Stay With Me
by nicthepunk
Summary: Takes place after the war on Konoha. Sakura is assigned a mission to assassinate Kabuto and retrieve Sasuke. However, things take a downturn and he winds up taking her to Kirigakure to revive the Uchiha clan. SasuSaku. Lemons later. R
1. Down Spiral Of Events

**Disclaimer: **Don't own Naruto.

**Warning:** Attempted/Implied Rape In This Chapter; Nothing Too Serious but I've warned ya...

* * *

Ah, yes... Another rainy day in the Fire Country, after what seemed like a year-long drought, though in actuality, the water shortage was only several months in length. Even so, the rain seemed to never stop, instead seeming, as fate played its age-old trick upon her on this very day, of all days.

The skies appeared to be weeping heavily, nineteen-year old Sakura Haruno thought to herself as she gracefully lept from tree branch to tree branch, the destination of her solo mission not much farther ahead of her.

She furrowed her eyebrows at this assumption, wondering why the skies would be weeping at all, as nothing tragic holding a remote significance has happened recently for the heavens to cry upon her so endlessly.

Perhaps they cried for her own soul, which was tainted young, and continued eroding as blood stained her hands. She was a shinobi and during her career as a shinobi, she had thus far killed many during her career as a shinobi. Even so, she regretted nothing because regret wasn't in her vocabulary anymore. She had a new ninja way, and her goal now was to gain her own strength and find her own path in life.

She never desired it so much as she did now, and the strength she did have now was well-earned. Sasuke was gone, again, after having nearly destroyed Konoha with the Akatsuki, and luckily, most of the Konoha Twelve had survived the attack.

Unfortunately, the Toad Sannin was gone, and Naruto didn't seem to quite be the same ever since. Lately, he had been trying to perfect a final jutsu that Jiraiya was attempting to pass on to Naruto before his death; the very jutsu that gave The Fourth his legendary status as "The Yellow Flash". That in mind, Naruto had been training alone more than ever, trying to perfect the jutsu and make it his own.

From what she could tell, he wasn't making fast progress without his teacher around to tell him if he was performing it correctly. Luckily, Kakashi had been Minato's student and knew what the jutsu was supposed to look like, and helped Naruto with any flaws. Personally never having learned The Fourth's speed technique, Kakashi couldn't exactly tell Naruto _how_ the deed was done, but rather, he went by memory of his old sensei and gave observations as the two worked out all of the kinks in the technique.

Naruto was all she seemed to have left in the category of a best friend. Sasuke hated her, now more than ever, though then again, he always did hate her. She finally realized it and took it in stride, vowing to herself to live her life putting herself first, rather than everything else. Having accepted that, it was so much easier for her to make it through each day than it had been to hold onto a sliver of hope that he would be hers someday. No, that dream had died a long time ago. Now, she was a survivor. But what happens when **The Survivor** would someday again cross paths with **The** **Avenger** again? She tried not to think of it.

"_**Solo missions." **_

Shesighed inwardly to rarely ever went on a team mission anymore because her team—Team Seven—was no more, and without _**that**_ team around backing her up in the face of danger, there would be _**no**_ other team for her at all.

Now, she did mostly all Bingo Book assassinations missions. Today's mission was only slightly different from the norm. It was an S-Class mission, involving two people she had grown to loathe. One of those two would die; the other would come back either peaceably or half beaten to death, the latter seeming much more appealing to her.

* * *

She had concluded that she would never have a family like she had once dreamed of, because the only family she held dearly was now taking different paths in life. Their bonds were severed by the only person she had been willing to consider having a life with. And now?

Now, she wondered if anything still held a meaning in her heart. She wondered if she still cherished the little, meaningless memories from her childhood while Sasuke, Naruto, Kakashi, and herself were all together. She couldn't feel much anymore, hardened from the life of a ninja. She had changed in more ways than none.

She was taller now, but still only reached Naruto's chin. She was also much more curvaceous now, especially in her hip area. Her waist was shaped like an hour glass, accentuated with firm ab muscles from her rigorous training. Her breasts had grown as well, and had beautifully complimented the rest of her well-toned body, creating a stunning young woman. Her hair was long again, but was kept pulled away from her face. She wore black, low-cut shorts and a black top that reached just above her naval. The look all-in-all made her look more mature; more like a ninja should.

The old shinobi rule echoed darkly in her mind. She had been thinking of this particular rule a lot lately upon reflecting how much she has changed over the years.

She quickly glanced up at the sky, noticing the clouds darkening. How long had she been running? She wasn't quite sure at this point. All that she knew was her orders, which were simple.

**Infiltrate Sound. Kill One Missing Nin. Return With Second Missing Nin Alive. Use Force If Necessary.**

It was all such standard protocol for her nowadays—at least the assassination part. Unlike most of her Bingo Book hits, she didn't need a file for either target. She didn't even need a photograph, because she knew them—both of them. The first of the two she was extremely happy to have the opportunity to kill without his precious master around to protect his vermin ass; the second was a person whom she knew painfully far too well than she cared to. He was a man who haunted her dreams each night; her _**nightmares**_.

He took her world away and crushed it in his very hands; stealing her will to live but giving her the will to fight, as well as the capability to murder a total stranger without remorse. Now, the only difference was, that the hit would be on someone she had longed to get her revenge on. She would be sure to make him suffer much worse than any victim whom had fallen into the hands of Konohagakure's very own Ibiki Morino and she would make sure that this would be done slowly.

She would murder him in the coldest of blood with a smile on her face. She would fight him if she had to, and she would laugh aloud over his corpse. She would chill any bystanders to the bone with her innocent features, as she would watch the man bleed to death.

But he deserved it, because he was the reason for her new way of life. He was the reason that she would die alone. And finally, he was the reason she would never find peace in her now-empty life—another thing that he was to blame for.

* * *

It is amazing how easily your heart can fill with such hatred towards others once someone you love with your entire being is taken away from you. The will that can drive us to kill for that person; to seek revenge for a fate that you can't truly blame them entirely for, but yet make the excuse in your heart and mind that they are the only physical being that exists to blame for such loss.

Her mission was simple: _**Investigate Anonymous Tip About Team Hawk's Last Known Where Abouts. Kabuto Has Been Reportedly Spotted To Be Associating on Equal Terms with Hawk. Kill Kabuto. Bring Back Sasuke By All Means Necessary, But Keep Him **__**Alive**__**.**_

And she would do just that. Why would she care if she was forcing him back against his will? That's just it, she _didn't_ care, at least not anymore. Feelings be damned, she was bringing him back if she had to break every bone in his body and drag him back by his chicken-butt hair.

The village had received a report that Kabuto had been performing particular healing jutsu's on Sasuke's more internal organs, particularly, his newly gained Mangekyou Sharingan—his little "parting present" from Itachi—that had been quickly blinding the idiot, faster than it had for Itachi, since Sasuke's transplant jutsu was performed on eyes that were almost completely blind as it was. In other words, Itachi may have gave him a Mangekyou, but it was pretty much useless and sucking all of the life out of Sasuke's vision.

Unfortunately for Sasuke, Kabuto was a terrible medic, or at least, he was compared to Sakura and Tsunade. He had rare forbidden jutsu's, yes, but he also had no access to new medical books with new and modern healing techniques. Sakura assumed that Sasuke should be in worse condition now than he was before Kabuto had begun attempting to heal his eyes.

Another thing about the healing jutsu was that Kabuto was absorbing Sasuke's chakra in combination to his own to heal his eyes. What Sasuke was most likely unaware of is that the drain on his own body wasn't supposed to happen, as it caused internal damages to the heart functions, as well as practically turned his muscles to mush afterwards.

The healing sessions had been leaving Sasuke weakened by the end of the day, Kabuto, on the other hand, was almost completely rejuvenated having almost never used his own chakra on the Uchiha's eye sight. It was genius, yes, and surely Kabuto knew that Sasuke was being destroyed on the inside from such frequent chakra usage. But then again, Kabuto was Kabuto. He was a prick and hated Sasuke inwardly, that much was clear.

It was noon when Sakura parted for her mission. Assuming the time it would take her to get from Leaf to Sound, by the time she would get there, the only person she would have to really focus on as far as putting up a fight would be Kabuto. Sasuke would be weak enough to take back with little-to-no resistance.

* * *

The sun began to set as she quickened her pace. The last thing she needed was to arrive in The Sound Village in the dark—that is, if she could even make it there in the dark. Much to her relief though, she vividly saw the village gates ahead and noticed two guards standing outside of it.

She crouched down hiding behind a bush, still masking her chakra completely. She was a good fifty feet away from the gates, at least. She began to perform a few rapid hand seals that caused her fingertips to glow with five faint chakra signatures.

She flicked her pointer finger forward, sending a thin string of chakra towards the biggest of the two guards. She drew her other four fingers back towards her palm before darting them forward, emitting four other chakra strings to attach to the man.

The chakra strings were thin, and they split in several places at the end, emitting five smaller strings at the end. The rest was all up to her brain. She really would have to thank Kankuro for his puppet jutsu later on, she thought to herself. But back to the task at hand.

The chakra strings of her thumb latched onto each finger of his left hand. The strings from her pointer finger had tapped into his chakra bank and stopped the flow entirely. Her middle finger's chakra strings latched onto his left shoulder blade, elbow, and wrist. She did the same with her opposite hand, gaining control of the right side of his body. She knew she had to speed things up so she wouldn't waste too much chakra.

She forced the man into submission, forcing him to take a kunai in his hand and severing his partners brachial artery. She counted looked down at her watch and stared at the hands, waiting for two minutes to pass. Once the hand struck the two minute point, she looked up towards the gates and smiled grimly to herself. Guard number two had bled to death, just as planned.

With a quick flicker of her right wrist, she forced her human puppet to raise his kunai-wielding hand to his throat as she dragged the blade across his pulse point. His body hit the floor and she released her hold on him. Stealthily, she made her way into the gates.

She looked around cautiously, and was surprised to see that there were no other guards in sight. Excellent, she thought, and began to proceed through the shadows of the sunset, treading her way forward to a dark cavern, heavily filled with the foul odor of blood and decay. It smelled as though a massacre had taken place, which was how she identified it at all.

**Hawk's Hideout.**

She heard a rumor once that there was a sadist among the group but seriously? Could there honestly be carcases or worse spewed about? She entered the cave located just at the edge of Sound, and to her surprise, there were in fact bodies splayed about; they just weren't those of whom she had been expecting. She had been expecting to see dead prisoners, villagers, civilians, _children_, for God's sakes. But the site before her, she would never forget. Team Hawk... had been wiped out.

Her assassination target was dead with the group, consisting of two males and one female. She noticed one figure not among the small heap of bodies, however, and looking a bit away, she saw his barely breathing form, confirming her suspicions. She looked to the ground, staring in shock at the bleeding figure, as her eyes widened in shock.

The fact that her second target being nearly-dead having done the deed of killings of the snake sannin himself, as well as the sannin's apprentice, and his new team mates, merely astonished her. She couldn't understand his reasoning for wanting to kill the person who he came to for power, but then again, she had no desire to question it either. Truth be told, deep down, she was happy for once, because a monster such as himself would no longer dwell the Earth to destroy more lives, as he had hers and her blonde-haired teammate years ago.

Sasuke's chakra was very faint at this point and he was almost unresponsive, his breaths coming out in short gasps, as though he were fighting for air to enter his lungs. His chest had a gaping hole that lead from his sternum to his lower abdomen, and it was a wonder he was still alive. He must have been injured not too long ago. She rushed to his side and forced healing chakra to her fingertips before roughly protruding them none-too-gently into the gaping hole located at the Uchiha's abdomen.

**"Serves the bastard right." **She grimly chuckled to herself as he unconsciously winced in pain from the pressure she applied as she sent her healing chakra quickly coursing throughout his body. She gasped as she sensed all of the internal injuries fighting desperately to heal themselves, but failing inevitably.

After about twenty minutes and half of her chakra supply later, his internal damage had been healed, the wound sealed, and he was still unconscious as she jostled him over her shoulder, vanishing in a puff of smoke, only to reappear again outside of the Sound gates.

**"Man, the Sound is full of idiots... That was way too easy!" **In the back of her mind, she knew she would probably end up near death, if not dead entirely, had she encountered a fight with the Uchiha. But, perhaps her fate had been turning around for the better. Perhaps...

* * *

She sighed, in realization that there were three poorly masked chakra signatures surrounding her.

"Well, well, what have we got here?" The first of the five said, stepping out of the shadows to her right, followed by his comrades. He was taller than her by a good four inches, at least. His hair was a bright blue shade and his eyes were a golden yellow, similar in color to the snake Sannin's.

"It looks to me like some bitch is trying to abduct Kabuto-sama's associate from us." Another replied from her left, grinning beneath his long, red hair that covered his face. His height matched the first of the five's and she let out a frustrated groan as another began speaking.

"Well, that just won't do. I do believe some 'punishment' is involved here, eh boys?" This one was eying her from head to toe, standing right in front of her. His black onyx eyes hungrily leered at her body as his black bangs blew in the wind.

All three appeared to be close in age as Sakura, though they held a dark and strong aura around her. Then again, they were Sound ninja. You can't expect them to be necessarily kind hearted. She grimaced at the thought.

In a flash, the first shinobi appeared inches from Sakura, taking Sasuke's limp body from her arms before she could register what he had done. As she turned to face him to retrieve Sasuke, the blue-haired nin had placed him on the ground, and was now grasping her wrists, pushing her backwards until she roughly hit her back against the red heads chest. The red haired one reached to the front of her and held a kunai tightly to her throat, daring her to move.

She could see the third, black haired one walking towards her, his face also holding a predatory gleam to it. He took his own kunai and latched it under her red medic vest as he slowly glided the edge down towards her naval, ripping the material in half to reveal her in a bright red bra.

"Well, look at this boys," the blue haired shinobi spoke, with a hint of satisfaction in his voice, "she's not as innocent as she looks. A red bra, eh? 'Last time I checked, red was the signature color of a whore." They all began to chuckle darkly in unison as she glared ahead in disgust.

The black haired boy began to perform some foreign hand seals before roughly grasping her wrists in his hands. Slowly, what remained of her chakra began seeping from her body and dissolving into nothing. It wasn't long before her body slumped to the ground and she was too weak to move her legs.

The three shinobi grinned amongst one another and all she could do was look at them, her eyes now filled with fear. It was ironic how such a situation was the lengths it would take to get a reaction from Sakura nowadays. But here she was, laying on the grassy ground outside of the Sound Village gates, completely helpless as these three monsters took advantage of her.

She felt paralyzed and couldn't move a muscle, save for her eyes and her lips slightly. The black haired nin proceeded to cut the rest of her shirt off, allowing the ends to fall freely to the ground as he moved to her bra. He also managed to cut that off, leaving her entire upper body bare for them all to see. The blue haired one cut at her skirt with his own kunai, the material falling to the ground with more ease than the rest of her torn clothing.

"**Cant. Move. A muscle." **She shrieked in pure horror to herself, watching the three in red headed shinobi began roughly pinching and squeezing her breasts from behind her, and she felt his erection pressing into her back.

"**No! Shit! Gotta … Move …! Come on, Sakura…! Move…!" **Her inner scolded her for not moving at all, but even so, Sakura couldn't move despite her wanting so desperately black haired shinobi cut a straight line from the center of her bra, down her stomach and panties, leaving a long trail of blood in its path from the now visibly large slice that went down her abdomen. The scent of blood was thick in the air. Slowly, she began fading in and out of consciousness from her chakra depletion until finally, she welcomed the sleep, hoping for the nightmare to just be over with.

* * *

Suddenly, three shrill screams of agony filled the air as Sakura's barely unconscious form hit roughly off of the ground beneath her. The impact briefly awoke her from her slumber to see a blurry form in front of her. She was still too exhausted, and the moment he lifted her into his arms, the world again went black.

**

* * *

**

-Three Hours Later-

Sakura awoke to the cool feeling of nightfall as she slowly opened her eyes. The world around her was slowly becoming visible and she noticed that she was wearing a long, white shirt. Soon after, she recalled the day's previous events and began hitting the figure carrying her, her limbs flailing wildly about.

"Let go of me! Let me go!" She screamed, the sheer terror and panic visible in her voice.

"Sakura." She froze once she heard him speak, automatically recognizing the voice that had softly yet sternly just spoke to her. Her green eyes looked up at the onyx ones boring into her own. He had no shirt on, indicating he had covered her up with his own. Who knew the bastard traitor could be so considerate?

**"_So it wasn't a dream... Damn..."_** she inwardly groaned to herself.

"Where are we?" She was still weak from the loss of her chakra, and the tone of her voice clearly gave that away.

"Near the boarder."

She looked at him in confusion. "The boarder? Boarder of _**what**_?"

"The boarder separating Fire from Water. We're going to Kiri." She got silent. She didn't know why he was taking her to Mist, of all places, but she could care less at this point. Not only was she exhausted, but she was relieved because for once, he wasn't running away. With that, she fell back into her slumber.

* * *

They arrived at a shipping port about four hours later, the weather change forcing Sakura awake. She looked at the ground and realized that they were on a ship, surrounded by water. "Sasuke," he looked down at her, "why are you taking me to Kiri?"

He paused at her words thoughtfully before answering her truthfully. "It's quiet there. You remember it here, when we were genin. It's small but it's quiet. Besides, the Uchiha clan originally had roots tied in with Kirigakure dating decades ago at the clan's start." He sighed at the memory of the Akatsuki leader, whom despite popular belief had been very much alive for a good while.

"My ancestor Uchiha Madara was a kage here at one point. Besides, Mist isn't exactly directly allied in with Konohagakure, any ties between the two's residential affairs not being discussed among the two. There's privacy here, and it'll be a nice place to settle down and revive my clan safely."

She froze at his answer, her eyes widening with disbelief. Suddenly, realization dawned on her like a ton of bricks and her eye twitched involuntarily. "Wait... what?! Then what the hell are you taking _**me**_ with you for?!" She jumped up out of her seat in his lap, where he had been holding onto her since he himself had awoken.

"Sakura... I've been thinking it over and... I've decided that I want you to help me revive the Uchiha clan by baring my children." He answered her, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. He didn't even bother _**asking **_for her to do such a favor for him. Instead, he _**stated**_ _**it**_ like she had no choice, which made Sakura fume with anger.

"What the _**hell**_...?! What makes you think that I'm even willing to have your kids, you arrogant bastard!" He looked at her finally, his expression was stern and intimidating to just about anyone except Sakura. Instead, she further stood her ground and continued yelling at him.

"You could have asked _**nicely**_, and I _**may**_ have considered it, though even _**that **_would be a long shot, considering how arrogant and self-centered you are. But no! You have to be the arrogant Uchiha _**bastard**_ that you are and _**demand**_ as if I'll respond to your every beck and call! What am I, chopped liver?!"

"No, but you _**are**_ annoying."

**Slap.**

He didn't even see that one coming and sat there in shock for a moment before resuming his calm composure, glaring slightly at her. "That wasn't necessary."

"The _**hell**_ it wasn't! I'm not having your precious heirs, so find someone else, baka!"

He let out a frustrated sigh. This was going to be a long ride.

"...You're still coming with me."

* * *

She crossed her arms in defeat, not really having the energy at this point to do much else. She honestly couldn't believe how childish she was being at this moment. She figured it was about time though seeing as her holding a coldness for the last several years that could rival the Uchiha's own.

The fog in the air was growing more thicker by the hour as Sakura peered over the edge of the ship, her sleeves covering her hands from the sudden chill that filled the air as Sasuke walked up behind her.

"We'll be in Kiri soon," he whispered loud enough for her to hear him.

She nodded her head in silent understanding, too deep in thought about everything to really be as social with her childhood crush. This surprised him a bit, as he had expected her to be flooding him with questions by now. He didn't call her up on it though, feeling no need to spark any unnecessary conversation.

"Sasuke," her voice was so fragile sounding, he thought she was breaking in two, but didn't think too much of it. He looked at her in acknowledgment and she continued speaking. "Why me?" She didn't have to specify what she meant because he already knew. He honestly didn't really think too much of it, assuming she would have been thrilled at the proposition, and her opposition to the idea of spending her life with him and having children with him, had completely threw him off course.

He thought about his answer carefully, not wanting to upset her, though in all honesty he could care less about her feelings. He was an Uchiha, after all—an avenger at that. To love wasn't in his nature; to care wasn't in hos vocabulary. But he was still human, and she had once been considered a friend and comrade. She deserved an explanation after all of the hell he has put her through, which he can see has been a lot.

He wanted her to understand and hopefully accept that he probably may never love her the way she did him. But he also didn't want her to resent him to the point of denying him the chance to revive his clan. That is why he had to use logic before all else.

"Because you're here, and because I know you well enough to trust that you would be beneficial genetically to help me revive my clan." She was silent as she let his words sink in. She had, after all, expected as much.

She didn't beg him to love her this time, nor would she ever do so again. Truth be told, she wasn't even sure that she still wanted him to. Plus, she knew all too well that Sasuke was flat out stubborn and despite all of her efforts to destroy their bond, he still stood as her biggest weakness and barrier in life. She knew that inevitably, she would wind up succumbing to his wishes.

The ship docked near The Great Naruto bridge in Kirigakure that evening just as the sun was setting. The temperature was freezing as snow fell heavily to the ground. She went to walk to the exit of the ship before feeling her legs being lifted into the air as two strong arms pulled her close to him.

"Wh-What are you doing," she yelped in surprise as he proceeded to casually carry her down to the dock. "H-Hey! Put me down, Sasuke!" She began kicking her legs frantically in protest before he looked down at her raising an eyebrow.

"You have no shoes on, and you'd only be a hindrance if you tried to make it anywhere without. There's an inn not too far from here. We can get a room for a few nights." He proceeded to walk as her objections ceased. She began shivering despite him not seeming to mind the cold.

She noticed a sign ahead of them that read "The Kotiko Inn" and inwardly sighed to herself in relief. She reached her small shaking hand towards the door knob and Sasuke carried her into the inn, where they were greeted by two elderly inn keepers.

"Hello there! How may I help you, young man?" The elderly woman sitting behind the counter top boasted in glee noticing the surprising new potential customers. Sakura began to stammer out some sort of response before Sasuke cut in and answered the woman.

"My new _**wife**_ and I would like a room for two please, ma'am." Sakura's face turned beat red as her legs began kicking slightly again in protest, but deciding to continue with his little skit, she spoke finally.

"Sasuke-_**kun**_, please! Put me down! You've been _**carrying**_ _**me**_ _**forever**__!"_ He smirked, noticing her obliging and playing along with his little 'skit' for the elderly couple.

"Ooh! Newly weds, eh? Well, here's your room key, the room is 408! Enjoy your stay, and please! If you need **_anything_**, don't hesitate to ask!" The elder woman chimed as she handed Sakura, whom had finally been given the ability to walk freely again, the keys to their bedroom.

"Arigato." Sakura smiled sweetly at the woman before taking Sasuke's hand, roughly dragging him out of the eyesight of the inns keepers before shoving him against a wall.

"What the hell was that all about, Sasuke?! Newly weds?!" She glared whilst trying to keep her voice in as hushed a tone as possible to avoid drawing attention to them.

His only response was a smirk before snatching the keys out of her hand and walking away, forcing her to tread behind him in a huff.

* * *

When they reached their room, it was nothing too special – just a double bed, TV, dresser, night stand, kitchen area, bathroom, and closet space. Sasuke sat down on the bed and for the first time that night, Sakura had noticed something—or rather, a few things.

His lips were blue and his skin was more pale than usual. Also, the entire left side of his body was twitching a bit in tremors. The medic in her kicked in instantly and she began approaching him cautiously.

"Sasuke," he looked up at her, "how long has your body been shaking like that?" She hadn't even noticed it while he was carrying her, probably because she too had been shaking from the weather. He shrugged his shoulders.

"I didn't notice it was. Why?" He answered, slowly trying not to stutter and draw further attention to himself. It was too late though and he felt a hand reach out and touch his abdomen. Sakura gasped loudly before grabbing his wrist and noticing his pulse was irregular.

"Sasuke, you've got hypothermia."

He raised an eyebrow at her before shrugging his shoulders again. "I'll be fine. Don't worry about it."

Fine? The boy could die, he would certainly not be fine! She grabbed his hands and dragged him into the bathroom, as she flicked a light on and slammed the door shut, turning a lock and forcing him to look in the mirror.

"Fine my _ass!_ Look at you! You look like a corpse! Come on, you need body heat, now!" She didn't say another word before turning the shower on hot and grabbing his hands again.

Having dubbed the boy dense inwardly, she pulled him into the walk-in shower—clothes and all, and she wrapped her arms around him tightly, causing him to stiffen.

"What are you doing?" He asked, the situation having become all the more awkward. She ignored it though and pulled him down to the floor of the shower, climbing atop his lap and wrapping her arms tightly around him, rubbing his arms and back trying to regain proper blood circulation.

He watched her move almost mechanically as she looked completely unfazed by their position at the moment and decided to just give in and let her do what she wanted. He knew she would do it anyways.

"Sakura," he spoke finally after she had stopped rubbing his arms and just sat there with her forehead to his shoulder, allowing their bodies to absorb the warmth. She looked up at him. "We're still dressed."

She didn't quite get what he was implying and took his observation in a completely different manner. "Ugh, pervert!"

He raised an eyebrow at her again, his expression slightly insulted, though overall unfazed. "No, I meant... What are we going to sleep in?"

Oh _**crap**._ She hadn't even thought of that. Suddenly, it dawned on her that they would be forced to sleep in the nude until their clothing dried, and much to her horror, in the same bed. "Oh, Kami..." She put her head in her hands causing him to raise an eyebrow momentarily before smirking.

"Hn. Don't worry, I won't _**'take** **you** **in** **your** **sleep'**_ or anything like that."

Her eyes widened at him before narrowing into tiny slits. Smug bastard. Surely, he could care less about waving his 'man junk' about. Go figure, she gets stuck in this situation with the _**Uchiha**_ _**bastard**_.

She turned the water off and grabbed two towels off of a shelf, handing one to him, while wrapping the other snuggly around her upper body. She began unbuttoning the shirt slight and watched as he looked at her completely shocked to the fact.

"What? You're going to see them anyway."

He said nothing before unfastening his pants, wrapping his towel around his waist, securing it into place as he stood there staring at her, waiting patiently for her to do the same. She looked at him confused momentarily and cocked her head to the side before rolling her eyes and scoffing at him.

**_"Pervert_."** She mumbled under her breath, though it wasn't missed by his keen hearing.

His eyebrow shot up in surprise, mostly at the fact that continued managing to insult him so openly. She definitely had changed in more ways that one—a fact he had quickly discovered the moment the wet shirt dropped to the floor, only to be quickly replaced by her towel. He turned the door handle and walked into the bedroom as Sakura slowly followed him as well, sitting on the opposite side of the bed.

"How the hell did I even get myself into this situation?" Sakura pondered aloud, more inwardly than at him. Still, he found himself obliged to answer her question.

"You, of all people, should know the answer to that one, Sakura. Why _**were**_ you in Sound, anyway?"

She bit her bottom lip. She figured she might as well tell him now.

"I was assigned an S-Ranked assassination and retrieval mission. My targets were Kabuto... and **_you_**."

She gave him a proud smirk as his eyes widened a fraction, mainly at the fact that her mission was S-Ranked, and she had no team with her.

Obviously, she had gotten stronger, which made him give an inward smirk. He told himself that perhaps, her genetics really would prove useful towards reviving his clan.

Sakura's body became cold again as she climbed up on towards the top of bed and pulled the blankets down, before sliding her legs underneath them trying to regain her warmth.

She took her damp towel off once her body was covered for the most part and Sasuke stood before walking towards her, doing the same. She laid there stiffly and he knew why. Tension had suddenly grown among the two and she feared that moving may expose a bit too much of herself to him.

After a few moments, she felt the bed humming gently. She looked at Sasuke, and noticed his tremors from his hypothermia had returned worse. This time, he fully acknowledged them, and cursed under his breath.

"Sasuke... Don't think anything of this beyond what it is, but... Come here..."

He looked at her without moving and she let out a frustrated sigh before gripping his shoulder and pulling him towards her, her arms wrapping around him as his trembling began to cease.

He didn't embrace her back, as he felt it was unnecessary and he didn't want to further the awkwardness of the situation, instead, settling for her rubbing her hands gently on his arms in soothing circles, just as she had done in the shower.

* * *

She could feel his hot breaths touching her forehead and involuntarily shuddered at the contact. She ignored this though and soon, she noticed something beneath the covers pressing into her stomach—something _**hard**_.

"Umm... Sasuke..?"

He gritted his teeth in frustration. Damn. She figured it out. He didn't intend for _**that **_to happen, and truth be told, she had brought it onto herself, with their closeness and her insisting on warming him up. He gave out a frustrated grunt and shifted in her arms facing away from her. She stared at him blushing a bit before releasing her grip on his torso and facing the opposite direction of the room.

That was the worst and most awkward night of sleep Sakura ever had, and the morning only made matters worse. For one thing, their clothing was still wet, so they pretty much walked around in a sheet or towel, or didn't get out of bed at all. Their sleeping positions were quite awkward once the two had awoken to see limbs wrapped around one another as the two were in a position closely resembling a cuddle. They shook it off though and pushed it aside.

Finally, after what had seemed to be hours passing, their clothes had become completely dry as the two walked downstairs to the lobby, where they were greeted by the smiling elderly inns keeper.

"Umm, excuse me, ma'am," the elderly woman looked up at the kunoichi raising her eyebrows in acknowledgment, "are there any clothing stores nearby? Preferably any that sells men and women's clothing?" Sakura glanced at the elderly woman, whom had nodded her head in response.

"Hai. Actually, you may not have noticed this last night, but there is a clothing shop in the next building to your left." Sakura blushed, having completely missed the store as she and Sasuke entered during the previous night.

"Arigato!" She beamed at the elderly woman, grabbing Sasuke's hand and visibly dragging him out the door, only to be met by the misty dew that rest in the air of the morning, emitting a shiver from both shinobi as they trudged to the building.

The two walked in and parted, both having money of their own for their own clothing. Sakura had quickly spotted her new attire, which consisted of a black cheongsam. It was long in length, flowing just above her ankles. It was also snug in the chest area, and it accentuated her hips quite nicely. Sakura grabbed a pair of shorts that was several inches above the knee; enough to cover the essentials, which was all she really cared about.

She peered over to a shelf on the wall and noticed shinobi sandals, spotting a pair that resembled her Shishou's heels. She found her size and put them on, giving herself a once over in a full-length mirror before smiling weakly at herself, turning to be met face to... chest with a fully dressed Sasuke.

His outfit was almost a spitting image of the one he wore to the chuunin exams, the only difference being that his shorts came down past his knees further, and his shirt didn't sport the Uchiha symbol.

He looked at Sakura, his eyes slowly inching down her new—and surprisingly suitable—attire as he gave her an approving nod. The two approached the counter and laid their money down for the cashier who happily handed them each a receipt.

The two left without saying a word to each other, and they began walking down a street. Sakura was the first to break the silence, her mind having been plagued by endless questions to throw at him since they'd gotten here.

"Sasuke," said man stopped in his tracks and looked at her, his bangs towering his pale face, "I **can't** help you with reviving your clan." This caught his attention. Cant? Was she saying that she was _unable_ to bare children? If that's the case, that would truly be unfortunate for him...

"And why _cant_ you?" He asked rather hesitantly, hoping for his _**own**_ sake that his speculations were actually false for once.

"Because... for one thing I," she paused looking down at the ground as she rubbed one of her arms nervously, "I refuse to sleep with someone who I'm," she paused again, her gaze returning to his as she let out an exasperated sigh before continuing, "someone who I'm not married to."

This response—as completely dragged out and nerve wracking as it had been—had completely thrown him off guard. He had assumed that Sakura wasn't so _**traditional.**_ Then again, he thought it over, and realized that what she had was logical in a sense of pride. What praise worthy clan would have it's future generations bred in wedlock? They wouldn't. And it was at that moment that something so significant and trivial had dawned on him as a must.

"_What-if-we-got-married_?" he quickly mumbled out, hoping to not have to repeat himself. Unfortunately for him, though, she couldn't understand a word he had said and asked him to repeat himself. "I said... What if we got married?" His words had become as clear as day and she made a quick retort in a comeback. "And what makes you think I'd be willing to marry **you** of all people?" He glared at her insult, his eyes narrowing to tiny slits as he spoke calmly again.

"Okay, any other _reasons_?" He grit his teeth, hoping she didn't have any more. The less complications he had with this whole thing, the better it would be.

"Yes," she said casually, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world, "I refuse to marry someone who does not love me."

"And how would you know, how I feel about you, Sakura?" He hummed her name too naturally for her liking, emitting an involuntary shudder to emit throughout her body.

"Enough experience having known you, bastard," she grumbled out, a hint of sadness in her features. He shrugged.

"Anything else?"

She looked at him thoughtfully, placing a finger to her chin before going to speak again, only to be silenced by the Uchiha, whom had pushed her up against the building, holding her wrists firmly in place.

"Now, you're just making up excuses Sakura. So what is this really about, hm? What are you _**really**_objective of in this entire thing?"

She suppressed a shiver brought on by the sudden contact as best as she could before speaking clearly again.

"Those things ARE what this is about, Sasuke. Now, let go of me."

She growled at him pushing her wrists forward as roughly as she could, chakra still faint from her drainage the day before as he only pushed her hands harder to the wall, his body pressing more up against her own, emitting a gasp from her as he leaned towards her ear to whisper something.

"I _**could**_ _love_ you back, Sakura-_chan_."

Okay, maybe he was pushing it a bit now. She began trembling in his hands, as she spoke again.

"Love me 'back'? Who says that I still love you, baka? Hm?"

She raised an eyebrow at him in a smirk before his lips gently brushed over her jawline.

"I'll bet you," he whispered into her ear, his warm breath fanning her earlobe, "that I **will** change your mind."

Gaining back some of her resolve, she rolled her eyes and chuckled softly. "And to think, I always assumed you to be gay, Sasuke."

That was it. There is a fine line between wisecracks and taking cheap yet powerful blows to someone else's pride which a person just should _not_ cross, yet here she was—19-year-old medic nin Haruno Sakura—doing her best to destroy the pride of the man standing before her. That line, had just been crossed and his eyes bore crimson red, filled with rage.

"Care to repeat that?" His tone angry and husky as he whispered to her daringly, emitting a smirk to form on her lips.

"Hai. I said, I always figured you were into _**guys**_, Sasuke-kun." Her voice was filled with confidence, malice and smugness that could rival his own. Then again, despite how insulted he was at the comment, he understood her assumptions if only a little.

During their times as genin, he never paid Sakura—or any other female—attention. Plus there was that whole _Naruto-Sasuke-Accidental-Kiss-Thing_ that had aid in egging on her suspicions.

"I can show you that I'm not gay." He retorted slyly.

"Oh really now?"

"Mhmm."

"How—"

Before she could say anymore, he pressed his lips to hers roughly, completely taking the kunoichi by surprise and leaving her breathless as he pulled away a short moment later, smirking down at her.

"And now? Do you still feel that way _**now**_**,** Sakura?"

He whispered merely inches from her face, his smirk never faltering.

"I dunno, but that kiss with _**Naruto**_ seemed _**much**_ more heated when we were genin." He cringed and glared at her for a moment before headed towards the more crowded area of town, pulling her by the wrist to follow him.

"Where are we going?" She asked, not noticing the direction which he was headed in, before he stopped.

"The Mizukage's office."

"Why?" She asked reluctantly, suspecting what his answer may be.

"A few issues needing settling regarding our marriage, residency, and village citizenship." She was correct.

"Dammit Sasuke! I told you, I'm not marrying you or reviving your damn clan! All of you arrogant Uchiha bastards can go to hell for all I care! Your clan probably de—" Blinded by rage, she was suddenly shaken by him cutting her rant off by slamming her against a wall by her throat, crimson sharingan glaring into her jade orbs.

"My clan _**what**_, Sakura? They _**what**__?"_ he asked her in a mocking tone, challenging her to finish her statement. "You know _**nothing **_about my clan but you **will**help me. Otherwise, I **will** kill you. Do you understand?" She narrowed her eyes.

"Then kill me, Uchiha bastard." Before she could say anymore, his grip on her neck tightened as she slowly lost consciousness. Falling limply into his arms, Sakura's eyes fluttered open briefly before she began choking up a storm from the pressure he applied to her windpipe.

"Dammit, Sasuke! Why are you doing this to me?!"

"Because I love you Sakura." She froze mid-cough, shock spread all over her face.

"You w—"

"—I said, I love you, Sakura. There, I admitted it finally, okay? I could have anyone on the planet and you _know _that. Hell, I could have spared Karin's life and had her do it. But she was weak, and a whore. You, however..." He trailed off, "you were the one always at my side." She let out a deep breath before walking ahead of him, his eyebrow raised.

"Where are you going?" She stopped and turned back around to face him on her heel.

"To the Mizukage's office, of course." She said softly, her throat still sore from the assault. In all honesty, she knew she crossed a line and took the attack in strife. She had deserved it and felt like an ass about what she said about Sasuke's family—his _parents_.

"Are you coming?" She held a hand out to him, smiling sadly and weakly at him as he walked towards her, hesitantly accepting her gesture. The two walked to the Mizukage's tower and were greeted by Mist ANBU, whom requested the two wait in a waiting area outside his office until the Mizukage ushered them in.

She noticed his grip on her hand tighten a bit after a few moments waiting in silence. It wasn't intimidating, but rather, attention getting. "Sasuke-kun?" she asked, unawarely adding the prefix to his name, "What is it...?" He looked at her, his eyes full of something she didn't recognize—at least, not from him. _**Regret**__._

"Sakura," he looked down at the ground before continuing, "I'm sorry... for what I did back there..."

She tilted her head to the side before nervously lifting a hand to cup his chin, making him look at her face. "It's fine... Don't be, I understand."

Her words soothed him and he began unintentionally brushing the edge of his thumb across her knuckles.

"Sakura?" He whispered, barely audibly though just enough. She looked at him. "Arigato."

* * *

**A/N: **TBC! R&R Please! And check out my other story, "Suddenly"! It needs reviews too -pouts- Anywho, be kind, I'm trying here. :)


	2. Things Are Looking Up

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**Disclaimer: **Don't own Naruto. I do, however, own a Naruto Leaf Village sweat band. So I guess I'm just as cool, eh? Haha. As if...

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**A/N: **Oh, and curses goes to Kishimoto for killing Itachi! Dammit!!! Grr . Okay, as I was...

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Sakura couldn't figure it out—no matter how much she thought about it—what Sasuke was thanking her for.

"**Surely,"** she thought to herself, **"he is thanking me for agreeing to this, and I really shouldn't look too far into it."** And she was probably right.

Sasuke was a lot of things—arrogant, smug, overly proud, determined—but even so, he wasn't too in depth on his feelings. In the moments he actually was, they were about as rare as seeing a shooting star – something to be taken to heart, rather than mind, and never forget them.

* * *

**"_Because I love you Sakura."_**

His words played back in her mind over and over as the two waited silently hand in hand outside of the Mizukage's office. To say she was nervous at this moment would definitely be an understatement.

She was 19-years-old! The last thing she was ever worried about was paying her rent on time, and now? She's getting _**married**_ to the **_only_** guy she's ever loved – _**plus,**_ said man is fully intent on getting her **_pregnant_** as soon as possible?!

It all seemed far too dreamlike to her. But yet, even so, she felt deep down that everything was going to wind up being okay. Besides, Sakura always DID think with her heart first, and if it feels right to it—which this absolutely _**did **_feel right—then there was nothing for her to worry about.

At the moment, she was so consumed in her inner thoughts about the entire situation, that she didn't even notice the tall, robed figure towering over herself. He was much taller than she was, meeting Sasuke face-to-face. Sasuke had stood up, and the moment she had finally noticed, she did the same.

"Mizukage-sama, this is my," he paused for a moment to think of a proper word to describe Sakura as in terms of their _**relationship**_—he couldn't call her his 'girlfriend' because technically she wasn't—so he settled for the next best thing, "fiancée, Haruno Sakura, and my name is Uchiha Sasuke."

The tall man's hardened features softened a bit.

"Uchiha, eh? Well then, come in! Come in! Please! Step into my office! Both of you!" The elder man ushered the two happily. "This is truly an honor to have a member of the Uchiha clan back in my village. What brings you two about here?"

"Arigato. I am the final survivor of the Uchiha clan."

The Mizukage's features darkened, his smile straightening as Sasuke continued speaking.

"I am not sure if you are aware, but twelve years ago, the entire Uchiha clan, short of Madara Uchiha and myself, were murdered by one of the clan's members, Uchiha Itachi. Itachi is... _**was**_ my older brother who spared my life all of those years ago. I vowed revenge on Itachi after the massacre and eventually got it, as well as discovering that the elder council of Konohagakure was the blame for it."

"No... I was not aware of that. Mist seldom gets any updates on the affairs taking place in Konohagakure and with Uchiha Madara...no longer serving as the village Mizukage, we're pretty much in the dark. But please, continue..."

"Hai. Sakura and I would like to obtain residency here permanently, ensuring us safety from Konohagakure shinobi, as we make our efforts to... _**revive**_ the Uchiha clan. We would also like to obtain residency here, as well as to become official Mist Shinobi. I must inform you, however, Mizukage-sama, that my current status among the shinobi nations is that of a missing nin. And technically, since Sakura is here with me, she could be considered one now as well."

The Mizukage raised an eyebrow at them both hesitantly before sighing. "And what were your crimes for being banished or otherwise leaving Konoha?"

"Well, Sakura and I both _**technically**_ left of our own free will... However, I have gained a fairly bad reputation involving me wiping out several members of the Akatsuki, including my elder brother, Uchiha Itachi, as well as another member by the name of Deidara, a Hidden Stone shinobi... amongst other things." He looked away, hoping the Mizukage wouldn't question those "other things" as he didn't feel like explaining further. Much to his relief, the Mizukage didn't.

"I see. Well... due to a particular treaty agreed to and issued by the former Mizukage, Madara Uchiha, Mist will welcome any Uchiha regardless of their track record, and provide them with whatever they require. As long as you agree to abide by the village laws and consider yourself a Mist shinobi from now on, you are granted your request. However, there is one problem regarding the lady here..."

Sasuke quickly understood what the Mizukage was going to say, and thus cut him off. "We would also like to obtain an official marriage license, so that she too will become an Uchiha."

"Oh?" He looked at her as she nodded in agreement. "Well then, in that case, here you go," the Mizukage handed Sasuke a rather thick pile of several different documents, "just both of you fill them out, and bring them here whenever you can."

"Arigato, Mizukage-sama."

Sasuke bowed his head in respect before standing, as well as Sakura, who also thanked him, and bowed politely. The two walked out of the Mizukage's office in silence, and once they reached the outdoors, they headed back to their hotel room for the night.

With a turn of a key, the two entered their room and Sasuke sat the papers down on a night stand, where Sakura then picked them up and began scanning through the documents, curiously.

* * *

**Marriage License.**

**Marriage Certificate.**

**Shinobi Employment Request Forms.**

**Citizenship Request Forms.**

**Village Residency Request Forms.**

* * *

"Man," she thought to herself, "who knew that the legitimacy involved with residency would be so _**official**__? _There's _**so **_many documents, jeez... No wonder shishou drinks so much, and she's the hokage!"

Sasuke walked towards her and handed her an ink pen. "You can sign them first." He stated simply. She nodded and slowly took the pen from his grasp, the reality of the situation still dawning on her. Once she signed her name in all of the proper places, with the exception of the marriage documents, she paused a moment, staring down at the papers before her, reading them to herself.

"_I, (Wife-to-be Signature Here) agree that my request for a marriage to (Husband-to-be Signature Here) is absolutely **consensual**, as well as **legitimately** **binding** to the village laws of—"_

"Blah blah blah, we'll be officially married by law. Okay... Signing now." She thought to herself, before placing the tip of the pen to the signature mark intended to herself and scribbled her name, before handing him the pile of documents. He did the same and placed the documents back onto the stand beside their bed and looked over at her.

"Now what?" She asked, unsure what to do now that they were officially married.

The thought, however, didn't quit sink in her mind as well as she assumed it should have. It just didn't seem right – she never imagined that _**this**_ would be how she would get married. She imagined so much more but then reminded herself yet again that those thoughts were simply just a fantasy. This was reality, and she just had to suck it up, and deal with it.

"I have one idea."

"Oh? And what's that?"

"This." Sasuke leaned forward placing his hands on the bed as he kissed Sakura gently on the lips.

Instinctively, her eyes closed and slowly returned the kiss. Sasuke crawled onto the bed as she inched backwards, giving him more room to get comfortable. He hovered over her and continued kissing her slowly and passionately, wanting to take his time with her so that she would have no regrets.

Her mind was blank up until he climbed on top of her. At that moment, one of the most random thoughts popped into her mind.

"_**I wonder what the village thinks about my absence?"**_

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[Meanwhile, back in Konoha...]

"She's what?!" Tsunade let out a bone chilling scream, causing several glasses to break throughout the Hokage's tower, as birds took flight from their positions in the surrounding tree tops.

Izumo stood next to his partner, Kotetsu, and the two flinched at their hokage, whom was now fuming with fury. Each let out a long sigh in unison and their shoulders dropped. "Haruno Sakura has gone missing." Izumo softly responded, flinching a bit in fear of the Godaime's wrath.

A tall blonde figure enters silently through the hokage's doorway, approaching the enraged sannin. "Baa-chan..."

"I know, Naruto, I know. And yes, you may be in the retrieval squad as well. Go bring me Shikamaru."

She forced her tone to calm down and soften after seeing the look of pain in Naruto's eyes. Naruto exited through the door and Tsunade looked up from her desk, which she was leaning forward on her fists.

"Izumo, Kotetsu... What about the Uchiha?"

"He's gone. When ANBU found the lair, Kabuto, and all of Team Hawk, minus Sasuke, were dead."

She let out a frustrated sigh.

"_**That's not too much of a loss there,"**_ she inwardly thought to herself. Four less enemies to worry about was never entirely a bad thing.

However, her mind shifted back to the fact that her apprentice was in fact currently missing, as was Sasuke Uchiha, a wanted criminal and murderer.

Her stomach turned with the thought that he could have done something to her. She reminded herself, however, that if he wanted to kill her, he would have done it back at the lair, alongside of his former three man cell plus Kabuto. That thought alone gave her some peace of mind.

"Hokage-sama."

The tall, pony-tailed shinobi stood before her in his jounin uniform. She looked at him in acknowledgement before peering over his shoulder at his wife, whom was silently standing in the doorway looking back at her. She was used to Ino tagging along with Shikamaru at this point. Chances are, she probably just interrupted a date between the two or something anyway.

"How many shinobi am I permitted to gather? The same amount as _**last** _time, or..."

And by last time, he meant the Sasuke retrieval mission years ago.

"As many as you can... As many as it takes... I don't care right now, just bring her _**back**_." The womans voice and face matched in emotion – sadness mixed with fear.

"Hai. How long do we have?" He asked her, his tone staying soft and sympathetic.

"As long as it takes." She responded with a wave of her hand, silently telling him that he was dismissed.

Shikamaru walked out of the hokage's door to see Ino leaning against the wall to his left, and Naruto leaning against the one to his right. He sighed a bit in relief. At least he wouldn't have to be separated from his wife on this mission.

For once in what seemed like ages, Naruto didn't speak a word, and Shikamaru became concerned. They walked down the street, fully intent on making this mission a success, and by success, he meant he was gathering the entire Konoha 11, who just happened to all be free of missions at the moment. In fact, Sakura was the last to actually get assigned a mission, as work was moving rather slow due to the weather conditions not being suitable to work in.

All of them ranked between either Jounin and ANBU levels now, which was all the more surprising that for once, none of them had _**anything** _to do. Shikamaru, Ino, and Naruto walked towards the Hyuuga compound, which was now not far ahead on their left. He slowly entered the gates, Ino and Naruto both following wordlessly in suit, as he knocked on the front door.

He was greeted by his white-eyed, long-time friend and comrade, Neji Hyuuga, and looked behind him to see Hinata slowly approaching behind her elder cousin.

"Sakura-san is missing." He stated simply, yet his eyes held a silent look that clearly stated to Neji, _**"and both of you are going on this retrieval mission with us, whether you want to or not"**_.

Neji, also not a man of many words, nodded his head in understanding, and looked back to Hinata. She gave him a stern, agreeing nod, and in further silence, the five walked out of the compound and down the street further, until they reached another compound – the Aburame compound. He entered the gate to find Shino getting ready to leave.

"Mission, Shikamaru-san?"

The young man sporting sunglasses asked, before noticing the four other shinobi looking at him with many different expressions on their faces. Naruto and Ino appeared sad; Neji and Hinata appeared sympathetic; and Shikamaru looked determined.

"What happened?" Shino asked, catching on that something big had happened, if Nara Shikamaru—a man who kept to himself by all costs and tended to hide from the hokage on a regular basis just to watch the clouds—was at his door at all, and even more so with more than one extra person.

"Retrieval of Haruno Sakura-san. She's gone missing," he said as Shino responded with a nod before following the five even further down the street to an apartment complex. This time, it was Naruto who approached the door, knowing his new teammate more familiarly than everyone else.

He knocked at Sai's door, and was met face to face with the artist-nin's fully uniformed self.

"Hello dickless. What brings you here?" Sai asked, sardonically giving him a fake smile before slowly evening his features upon noticing the other's.

Naruto ignored his insult, as he was used to it.

"It's Sakura-chan... She's missing."

Sai nodded his head slowly.

"I knew Ugly would wind up disappearing one day," he mumbled, more to himself than the others.

Everyone ignored his usual rude comment as the seven shinobi walked a bit further ahead before making a left turn towards the Inuzuka compound. They were greeted—or rather, Hinata was tackled—by a fully grown Akamaru. Kiba walked outside of his home to try to pry his precious dog off of his teammate, giving her a sheepish grin.

"What's going on, guys?"

He raised an eyebrow, flashing everyone a toothy grin before Ino answered him.

"We have a retrieval mission."

Kiba looked at her in surprise.

"Really? We haven't had one of those in years. Who's it for?"

Everyone paused a moment before Shikamaru spoke.

"Sakura-san."

A few more stops later, they rounded up what was left of the Konoha 11 (minus Sakura, of course)—Tenten, Lee, and Chouji. They headed back towards the hokage's office to inform her that their squad was complete and that they would be heading off.

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[Back in Mist...]

Sasuke looked down at Sakura as they broke their kiss for air. She looks back at him smiling softly.

"You know what's ironic, Sasuke-kun?"

"Hm?" He raised an eyebrow at her.

"Neither of us had parents at our wedding—if you could call it that—because both of our parents have been murdered."

He looked at her silently as her features softened a bit.

"You had _**parents?**_ How come I never seen them?"

She looked at him surprised he would ask such a silly question.

"Of course I did! I didn't grow on a tree, ya know! And um... They weren't around much as I was growing up... they were ANBU." She giggled slightly before her smile straighted, his face never changed beyond serious.

"What happened to them?" He asked causing her giggling to cease.

"They were ambushed a few years back on a mission. Both were killed in battle."

He slowly looked down at the bed beside her. This whole time, he thought Sakura was arrogant because she didn't know what it was like to lose someone; least of all, her parents. And all of this time, she really did? He was inwardly kicking his own ass now in guilt, though he masked this well.

"Oh," was all he said in response.

They both lay there staring at each other silently for what seemed like a lifetime. Finally, he got up at sat on the edge of the bed, running his fingers through his raven-colored hair. Sakura scrunched her eyebrows at him confusedly. "Sasuke-kun, are you alright? I'm sorry for mentioning your pa—"

"No... It's not that..." He cut her off.

"Then what is it?" She asked, crawling towards him on the bed on her knees before sitting upright beside him.

He didn't say anything, and the two just sat in a short silence for a moment, before Sakura leaned down towards his ear to whisper.

"I told you that you weren't alone."

He turned around at stared at her. She gazed at him lovingly and compassionately; gentle yet oh-so-frail at the same time. He wanted to ravish her right there but he couldn't—wouldn't. It wouldn't be right. He knew Sakura was most likely a virgin so he was going to take it as slow as possible. Otherwise, he wouldn't be able to live with himself for it later.

Slowly he reached a hand towards her to cup her face, causing her to flinch momentarily before relaxing. She tried brushing it off as a reflex but he knew there was more to it than that; most likely involving his little stunt earlier that day before they both went to the Mizukage's office.

"I won't hurt you anymore..."

He whispered, barely audible, yet still heard.

She looked at his onyx eyes and saw a flash of _**something ** _that could only be described as fragile innosence that had been caged inside of him—nearly destroyed long ago—that he was fighting desperately to regain at this very moment for her. However, at the same time, the look was gone as he closed his eyes and leaned forward, pressing his lips against hers gently.

Sakura is pinned beneath Sasuke as he begins planting kisses slowly from her lips down to her neck. "S-Sasuke-kun..." He stopped with his face still buried in her pale, slender collar bone.

"D-Do you really l-love me?" She panted between each breath.

He nodded and waited a moment to see if she had anything else to add.

"Oh okay... I love you too..."

His body went rigid as she cringed inwardly at herself, thinking she had said something wrong. He stayed that way for a moment longer before slowly resuming his kisses to her collar bone, causing her to release a sigh of relief.

He hiked her long black cheongsam up above her bellybutton as he began running his fingertips in small circles along her ab muscles. Clearly, he couldn't get enough of her, too restricted from the troublesome dress blocking his way. His hand gently glided to her hip, where he found a small zipper that lead just below her armpit, and he pulled it upwards, exposing more of her abdomen.

Finally having enough with the irritating dress he roughly pulled it up over Sakura's head and tossed it aside, exposing her bare breasts, which were much to his liking. He stared down at her pale mounds, emitting a blush to grace Sakura's face, before he leaned forward to kiss her neck again, raising a hand to her left breast, gently and hesitantly placing a hand on it, moving his hand in slow circles.

Sakura gasped at the contact, emitting a smirk from him as his other hand began to tug at the small shorts that just barely covered her "essentials" but was stopped as a tiny hand gripped his wrist.

"Wait," she mumbled, "you're over dressed, Sasuke-kun."

She giggled loudly as she tugged at the hem of his shirt pulling it up over his head.

Once she tossed the black garment aside, he resumed his handiwork on her shorts, quickly pulling them down and off, reveling in the fact that those were, in fact, all she had as far as panties were concerned.

She reached for the zipper of his pants with a shaky hand. Pulling the material downwards, she came upon his black boxers underneath. He knelt there on his knees beside her silently, allowing her to do whatever she wished. She got up on her knees, inching closer towards him. Her small hand reached out again and her fingers hooked onto the material of his boxers pulling them slowly down his hips.

She blushed a crimson red upon seeing his manhood in all of its glory. Then, it hit her like a ton of bricks that _**this**_ was **_seriously_** about to happen, and _**that**_ looked way too big to go inside of her. Her eyes widened a bit upon this realization, before softening again as she looked up at his face a mere inches from heres.

She placed her hand up to his cheek before kissing him gently again on the lips. His arm wrapped around her waist as he deepened the kiss, pulling her small form closer to his as he ushered her to lay back, his body following hers in suit.

She gasped as she felt his erection pressed against her stomach, and the moment her lips parted, his tongue flickered across her own. She instinctively copied the action, feeling his hand moving from its original location on her hip, down to his manhood. She froze, knowing what was to happen soon, and he broke the kiss looking down at her.

Silently, he asked her permission, his tip now placed right at her core. She nodded her head in agreement and he leaned down to kiss her lips before pushing himself all the way inside of her. His kiss emitted her scream as he froze.

She bit down on his bottom lip hard to try to ignore the pain, but the tears still poured down her cheeks as blood poured down her legs—and from Sasuke's now bleeding lip. She held him in place, his lip trapped between her two teeth.

The taste of her kisses mixed with the crimson flavor of his blood made him strangely become more aroused. But even so, he hesitated, knowing that she was truly in severe pain, as he silently cursed himself for not preparing her beforehand.

Finally, she released her grip on his bottom lip from her teeth, gently sucking on it as it continued bleeding slightly. Finally she pulled away from him and looked into his eyes, silently telling him that she was okay now, as she reached up and wiped her tears away.

Slowly, he pulled himself almost completely out of her, before thrusting his length entirely back into her, emitting a whimper of the still sore pain she was feeling. He did it again, only slower. This time, however, she responded with a soft gasp. As he continued thrusting himself in and out of her, her gasps turned to moans, and her moans continued increasing in volume.

Soon, she was screaming in pleasure, his name coming from her lips as she roughly ran her fingers through his hair and occasionally raked her fingernails down his back. He grunted each time she did this, the slightly masochistic part of him becoming more and more aroused from the 'abuse' she was inflicting on him.

It wasn't long before they were both coming close to reaching their climaxes. His pace grew steady and fast as her moans came out more frequent and unending. Soon, he found himself pounding into her as roughly as he could.

The last few thrusts had caused her nails to sink into his back, and as she began to pull her hands down—nails still sunken into his flesh—he finally went over the edge. With his final thrust, she just barely went over board herself, the pleasure too immense to resist.

His body fell limply atop of her as their breathing continued coming out in deep gasps. Finally, he pulled out of her and rolled over to her side, still panting a bit coming down from his high. He closed his eyes and soon, sleep over took him. Sakura lay there in bed staring at the sleeping form beside of her.

She didn't want to rest—couldn't really. Her mind was racing now from what had happened over the last few days. Everything was happening so fast. First, she sees Sasuke after so many years, she almost gets raped, she's taken to Kirigakure, and now, she's married, and possibly going to get pregnant now, of not this time, than soon enough.

In all honesty, the thought of being a mother so young scared her. She didn't want to quit being a kunoichi, or a medic nin for that matter. But children and a family changes everything. She wondered if she would be a good mother, and what their children would look like.

She inwardly cringed at the mental image of a pink haired boy with a blazing red sharingan. Now THAT would just be _**too **_disturbing to handle. Fortunately, all Uchiha's look the same – black hair and onyx eyes.

Her thoughts weren't helping put her mind to ease, however, and she rolled over onto her side, facing the wall as a tear fell down her cheek. Life as she knew it was going to change from this point forward, and she was extremely afraid of that.

She watched snow gently fall from the sky, the tiny flakes hitting off of her window. For some reason, she felt relaxed suddenly. Finally, she closed her eyes and drifted off to sleep.

* * *

**A/N: **Okay, this was a lot shorter than originally planned 9 pages, which is half of the first chapter. But I thought this was a great place to end the chapter, ne? Thanks guys for your reviews, alerts, and favorites! They made my day :) -hugs and cookies for everyone- Lol. Okay, let me know what you think of this chapter (which I was writing in school lmao! XD.)


	3. Secrets and Lies

**Disclaimer: **Don't own Naruto. Thank god for fan fiction, eh? Lol...

* * *

It's two in the morning in Konohagakure, as ten exhausted and saddened shinobi are all gathered inside of a small conference room in the hokage tower. The ten shinobi are seated around a long table.

At the end farthest from the door, is the mission captain, Nara Shikamaru. Seated to his left is Nara Ino, followed by Tenten, Hyuuga Hinata, Hyuuga Neji, and Rock Lee. To his right, Inuzuka Kiba, Uzumaki Naruto, Sai, Aburame Shino, and Akimichi Chouji. The chair at the opposite end of the table is left empty.

In the center of the table lies a small stack of blank mission reports, as well as a small cup filled with an assortment of pens and pencils. Everyone sits in silence, each holding a pen and staring down at their individual mission reports, deep in thought and recollection of the events that had taken place during their retrieval mission.

Shikamaru is the first to make a move as far as writing goes, as he recalls the events that took place the week before as his pen begins to move against the paper.

* * *

**Departure Time: **Noon

**Date of Departure: **October13

**Return Time: **Morning

**Date of Return: **October 16

**Mission Objective(s): **Return Missing Konohagakure Medical Shinobi and Jounin, Haruno Sakura.

* * *

He paused, taking a moment to recall the events in detail, not wanting to forget a single action his squad had taken during this mission. He truly did not want to upset the hokage further by leaving out something that someone on his squad may mention and have her nagging at him.

**

* * *

**

On the morning of October 13th, I received urgent orders to report to the hokage's office. My wife, Nara Ino – whom was with me at the time – came with me.

**When we both arrived almost immediately after, we ran into Uzumaki Naruto, whom was also sitting on the floor outside of the Godaime's office. I didn't think too much of it, and neither did Ino because he seemed to be simply minding his own business**…

**I walked into Tsunade-sama's office while Naruto and Ino waited for me inside of the hallway. ****I was then given orders to gather as many shinobi as I felt necessary to assist myself in an urgent, top-priority retrieval mission. ****The mission was to find the now-missing Konohagakure medic Haruno Sakura, the Godaime's apprentice and student, as well as both my wife and my own friend and comrade**.

**Haruno Sakura had gone missing during an S-Ranked assassination and retrieval mission in Otogakure. Her task had originally been to wipe out Yakushi Kabuto and bring Uchiha Sasuke back to Konoha alive by all means necessary**.

**Due to the conditions of Sakura's mission—specifically, the location it took place, as well as the task which she had to complete—her missing status was considered a "Level 3 Emergency"**.

**I knew of the risks involved with possibly facing and having to fight Uchiha Sasuke from both my own personally witnessed accounts, as well as through documents which Konoha had been able to obtain from ANBU reports over the last several years since his departure from the village**.

**His newly acquired strength, as well as that of the members of his new team would put a regular three man cell in grave danger. Which is why, I decided to round up the ten of us remaining in the village out of the 'Konoha Eleven' – our old Academy group of friends and comrades – plus Sai, whom was Uchiha Sasuke's replacement to Team Seven**.

**After receiving orders from Tsunade, I walked into the hall and seen Ino leaning against the wall to my left, and Naruto leaning against the one to my right**.

**Naruto didn't speak a word the entire way down the hall, nor as we headed outside, which was very rare and extremely strange**. **I became a bit concerned as his friend, but decided against speaking up on it**…**My mind was too focused on the task at hand**.

**The three of us walked towards the Hyuuga Clan's Compound, and I knocked on the front door. ****We were greeted by ANBU squad captain Hyuuga Neji, whom was slowly approached by the Hyuuga clan's newly appointed leader and heiress, Hyuuga Hinata.**

**I informed both of them of what had happened to Sakura and what I had been assigned to do, without giving too many fine and unnecessary details. They both obliged to join the crew and followed us through the Hyuuga Clan's Compound's main gates.**

**The next stop was the Aburame Clan's Compound**. **I entered the gate of the compound to find Shino already headed on his way out – probably just to take a stroll or something, though exactly where, I am not officially sure**. **I informed him of the same minor details that I had told Neji and Hinata, that simply Sakura was missing and we had a mission to find her.** **We walked even further down the street to Sai's apartment complex. This time, Naruto approached the door, and knocked, having been more familiar with Sai on a personal day-to-day level. Sai answered the door and gave Naruto one of his usual **_troublesome _**retorts, which we all ignored, and Naruto informed him of the situation and he too obliged to come.**

**So far, we had no problems as far as mustering up a team would go, and so, the seven of us walked a bit further ahead before making a left turn towards the Inuzuka Clan's Compound. We were greeted by Kiba and Akamaru, and again, after informing him of the situation, he agreed to come**. **A few more stops later, we rounded up what was left of the squad, which was Tenten, Rock Lee, and Chouji**.

**We headed back towards the hokage's office to inform her that the retrieval squad was complete and that we would be heading off. The ten of us eventually left the village gates around noon that same day and headed immediately towards Oto**. **It took a total of two days for us to get there, counting all of our rest stops. The air was a lot colder than usual but it wasn't **_TOO_** troublesome.**

**We stopped a total of four times to rest before quickly resuming our travel. By the time we arrived in Oto, the evening had quickly approached faster than any of us had imagined. The ten of us quickened our paces through the tree tops as we approached Oto's main gates.** **Outside of the gates, we found two distinct mangled bodies**. **The first thing I noticed about one of the two cadavers were the distinct pink hair.** **We immediately realized that it was the body of Konohagakure shinobi, Haruno Sakura**. **She appeared to have been shielding a body beneath of her from an attacker and in turn, both she and the person beneath her – whom we identified to be Uchiha Sasuke – had taken a fatal wound to both of their hearts by the same katana that had pinned them to the ground**.

**The squad's official medic, Ino, had determined that their official cause of death was indeed the wound to their hearts. She also had informed us that neither had suffered too greatly and died almost instantly upon the impact.** **All of us remained silent in shock at the scene before us**. **Blood was splattered everywhere, and the entire area smelled like a massacre had taken place**. **Ino also determined that they had only been dead for roughly about three or four days, though we couldn't be too sure.**

**It had appeared as though Uchiha Sasuke had attempted to pull the katana from both of their bodies, but failed as he died of blood loss**. **His blood-covered hand was still barely grasping the blade in attempts to pull it out of them when we found them**. **Naruto was the first among our entire group to speak. He was more in shock and disbelief than anything, however...**"_Wha-What happened_…_N-No! Sakura-chan! Teme! How_… _I don't understand! The ANBU investigators already scoped this entire place out and didn't report this! How did they_… _How could…Why?!"_

* * *

Naruto trembled as he softly spoke his words in disbelief.

* * *

**It was extremely painful for me, both as the group's captain, as well as a friend, to watch Naruto lose his composure and suffer so much. Thankfully, he managed to keep his composure without taking an action that would **_**be**…'irrational'_**.** **My wife, Ino, was the next to react to the sight before us, though her reaction wasn't much different from Naruto's.**

* * *

"_Forehead," she whispered before burying her head into her husbands chest, his firm hand holding her head against his chest, comforting her sobs._

* * *

**Neji and Hinata both activated their byakugan's to observe the chakra levels of the deceased in order to make a positive body match.** **Shortly after a quick glance, they deactivated them and informed us that it was in fact both Haruno Sakura and Uchiha Sasuke. Lee burst into a bawling mess, crying a waterfall of tears. It was rather unnecessary and irrational**…**but then again, this IS Lee we're talking about**…**That alone was more troublesome than anything at that moment...**

* * *

"_Such a young state to end the beauty and power of youth! Oh, what a cruel world on this fateful day! What a saddened fate we have come to when such young shinobi in their—ow!"_

* * *

**But thankfully, Tenten had punched that blubbering fool into an oblivion as soon as he began to boast about something involving 'loss of the power of youth'. He actually listened to her and stopped being so troublesome. **

**From what I could see, Tenten was also trying her hardest to hold her own composure, having recently struck up a slight friendship with Haruno Sakura. Chouji and Sai just stared in shock at the site before them. It was very painful for even those two, who weren't close with either Sakura or Sasuke, to see the two slain. Before Naruto approached the bodies, my wife, whom had walked away from me for a brief moment, shrieked in horror**…

* * *

"_Guys! Look!" _

_Ino screamed and pointed inside of the gates, causing all ten of the shinobi to bend their necks slightly to get a sight of the view within._

**

* * *

**

The entire Sound Village had been wiped out, quite gruesomely I might add.

**Bodies of men, women, and children were all lying lifelessly strewn throughout the village, some in the streets, other's in their homes. Oto isn't very large of a place, though it seemed much smaller at that moment.** **Now, Oto is gone.**

**From my own knowledge obtained from what I've read in the past from old Konoha documents and reports, this entire slaughter had made the Uchiha massacre seem like a mere fluke in comparison. Sound had been wiped out, though it is unknown who did it. That alone made things seem all the more strange to me, personally. ****Naruto pulled the katana from Sasuke and Sakura's bodies, before tossing it aside. That's when his composure perished, and he fell to his knees silently, tears poured down his cheeks as he reached a hand towards Sakura's face.**

**Naruto picked up her lifeless, body, and carried her bridal style silently heading towards Konoha, and I did the same to Uchiha Sasuke, out of respect to the dead, and in order to provide him a proper burial with the rest of the Uchiha clan in the Uchiha district's cemetery. None of us spoke a single word on our way back to Konoha. We arrived this morning, on October 16.**

* * *

He let out a long sigh, before writing the last bit of information on the report.

* * *

**Mission** **Result**: Failure – Haruno Sakura and Uchiha Sasuke are dead.

* * *

**[Mist]**

Sasuke awoke the middle of that night after making love to Sakura, as he looked over at her sleeping form beside of him. He recalled the precautions that he had taken to ensure that they never would be discovered alive by the Konohagakure.

**

* * *

**

[Flashback]

_Suddenly, three shrill screams of agony filled the air as Sakura's barely unconscious form hit roughly off of the ground beneath her. The impact briefly awoke her from her slumber to see a blurry form in front of her. She was still too exhausted, and the moment he lifted her into his arms, the world again went black._

_Sasuke lay Sakura's unconscious form on the ground outside of the gates, as he approached her three attackers. He began performing hand seals before speaking._

"_Forbidden Art: Permanent Body-Cadaver Replacement Technique." _

_He placed one hand on Sakura's stomach, and the other on the blue haired attacker's, his features glowing in bright blue from chakra before his features turned to those of the rosette. He did the same to the black haired attacker, this time, placing his hand on his own abdomen as the young man's body glowed the bright blue before his features morphed into the Uchiha's – clothes and all._

_This technique was discovered and frequently used by Orochimaru, whom had taught it to Sasuke before his "untimely death"._

_Inside of each body, everything was a perfected clone of the real persons they manipulated – appearance, blood type, dental records, chakra levels, past or present injuries and illnesses. It was the ultimate jutsu but only worked on a dead corpse. If the jutsu would be performed on a living person, it would work just as well, but it would also kill that person almost instantly._

_Sasuke dragged the corpse clone of Sakura and laid it atop of his own duplicates lifeless form. He unsheathed the red heads katana that was strapped to his bodies' back as he shoved it through the two corpses, pinning them to the ground._

_He then walked into the Sound Village, and killed everyone in sight – which weren't many people, but enough to make up a village. Every slice with his blade was a clean cut – he didn't get a single drop of blood on himself, much to his relief._

_He walked outside of the gates, and picked Sakura's unconscious body up into his arms, before darting through the forest towards the boarder separating the lands of Fire and Water._

* * *

Sasuke let out a long sigh, feeling slight remorse for his last action. He was human and had just done the same that his brother had done to his clan. Even so, he told himself how this **had** to be done, and that the village would only be a hindrance to everyone later on.

He wouldn't tell Sakura about what he'd done unless she specifically asked. He assumed she would be angry with him but he wasn't focused on that at this point. Right now, all that he seemed cared about was his much needed sleep, and soon, found his long awaited slumber.

Sasuke awoke the next day, a bit surprised to see Sakura wasn't beside him. He thought that she had gotten up in the middle of the night and left. He narrowed his eyes and jumped out of bed, quickly grabbing his shorts from the floor beside the hotel bed.

As he started pulling his shorts on, he heard water running in the bathroom. Mentally, he scolded himself for thinking that she would leave him, and curiously, he peered through the crack in the bathroom door.

Sakura was sitting on the floor of the shower staring at the water falling down the drain. Her skin was red from the heat of the water, and he looked at her in confusion. Soon, he realized that she had fallen asleep in the shower and opened the door. She opened her eyes and gasped before reaching forward to turn off the water, her skin now burning from the heat.

"Sakura…"

"Eh heh… Gomen Sasuke-kun, I must have fallen asleep… Uh… Did you want something? Cause I'm done in here now and you could use the shower if you want and—"

"Sakura."

"Um… Yes, Sasuke-kun?"

He hesitated and decided against saying what he wanted to at that moment. "Nothing. Never mind. I'll see you in a few minutes. We have to go to the Mizukage's office today." He spoke loudly through the door, and began walking towards the remnants of his clothing which were scattered about the bedside area of their room.

Sakura walked out of the bathroom wearing only a white fluffy towel as she also proceeded to gather the remnants of her clothing throughout the room, once they were both fully dressed, Sasuke grabbed the small pile of papers from his night stand and the two walked out the door.

**

* * *

**

[Konoha]

Nara Shikamaru is seen walking through the gates of his home as rain continued to fall from the sky. His hands shoved abruptly into the pockets of his jounin pants, he looks upwards towards the sky, noticing a small blonde vision sitting in front of it, not noticing him.

He is seen peering upwards at the living room window of his apartment. He notices his wife staring outside blankly, her features clearly indicating that she had recently been crying. His eyebrow wrinkled as he walked into the house, tossing his soaked Jounin vest onto the couch.

"Ino…"

Ino looks at Shikamaru in acknowledgement but remains silent before returning her gaze to the sad view outside of the window, releasing a long sigh. Shikamaru approaches his wife, placing his hands onto her shoulders before leaning down towards her ear.

"Ino, what are you thinking of?"

She finally answers his question. "You know… Sakura and I were supposed to go through _**this**_ together…"

Shikamaru tensed, realizing exactly what Ino had meant by "this", but thus remained silent, urging her to continue.

"It was supposed to be me, and then her, and we would do this together… I would find out first, and then she would find out like a week later. Now, she's gone and I feel so alone! And it's so stupid and selfish of me because I'm not alone and I-I have you to be here for me and go through all of this with me b-but Shika… she was my best friend! And now? Now we can't be there for each other, and go through all of this together like we intended to when we were little girls, and… I-I miss her Shika! I miss her **so** much!"

Ino began to cry softly as Shikamaru wrapped his arm around Ino's shoulders, abruptly hugging her from behind her chair. Her small hand grips his forearm gently before she bends forward burying her face in her hands, her tears coming faster. Shikamaru walks around the chair and gives her a more direct hug, as she cries into his shirt.

"Have you told anyone else yet, Ino?" He whispered into her ear, already assuming his answer would be a no. She confirmed this by shaking her head 'no' and he frowned a bit.

"How long do you plan on keeping it from people?" He whispered again, his tone staying calm and comforting as he tried to distract her and set her mind at ease from the grievance of her friend.

"I don't know. Not until after the funerals, at least. I cant deal with being congratulated by people while everyone is still mourning her so freshly," she gave a small, sad smile before continuing, "for once, I don't feel like stealing the spotlight… Can you believe that?"

She reached up, wiping her tears with the back of her hands.

He chuckled slightly, "of course I can, Ino. That's because you really are a great friend. I should know, I did fall in love with you when we were friends after all."

She kissed him lovingly on the lips and hugged him tightly, the rain outside finally coming to a slow stop, as the sun began to rise again.

**

* * *

**

[Mist]

Sasuke and Sakura walked side-by-side down a street, both holding several shopping bags in their hands, their clothes having been changed – Sasuke wore plain black pants, a plain black shirt, and a waist-length black jacket; and Sakura wore a tight, black, short-sleeved shirt, black pants, and a long black trench coat. Their bags contained more attire that they had bought themselves after leaving the Mizukage's office with a key to their new home.

They slowly approached a large, older-built home that appeared to not have been used in decades. Sakura gazed up at the large Uchiha Crest painted on the front of the double doors to the house, the emblem fading and weathered. Sasuke pulled a small key out of his back pocket.

The two walked up the three small stairs and he inserted the key, unlocking the door that lead to the Kirigakure former Mizukage Uchiha Madara's old home. The house was large in size, to say the least. It had two levels, and six bedrooms, which Sasuke thought was absolutely suitable to raise his family in.

Having grown up in the large Uchiha main branch's mansion, he felt more at home in the large house than Sakura did. Though then again, Sakura came from a clan whom wasn't famous for relatively anything, unlike the Uchiha's. She looked around the large living room astonished as he grasped her hand and the two began to further explore the house, which had very little-to-no furniture.

They looked in silence, neither having much to openly say to one another about their new home. The home had large windows and every room in the house was essentially furnished with what they should have been – the bathrooms had a few decorations, such as shower curtains, throw rugs, etc.; the bedrooms had a bed, a dresser, and a night stand; the living room had a sofa, a fireplace, and a book shelf, fully stocked with scrolls detailing the history of the Uchiha clan from Madara's own personal records.

Their kitchen was very large, and everything seemed to be untouched. There was a large table in the dining area, surrounded by chairs which were neatly tucked into place. Sakura smiled softly at the more homey feeling that the house held now that she let her surroundings sink in. Sasuke sat down onto the couch, catching Sakura's attention.

She slowly walked towards him, his gaze shooting up from the floor to her face. His eyes flickered from her face, to the surroundings, and softened a bit. For the first time in a long time, he felt safe at home.

She noticed his childlike gaze at her, realizing exactly how he felt in this predicament and smiled warmly at the thought. She finally had been able to make Sasuke truly happy for once—and not annoy him in the process—and to her, that was good enough.

She finally reached him and reached forward to grasp his hand, though not entirely sure why the urge to do so had over come her. Once her fingertips brushed against his rough knuckles, he pulled her arm—and the rest of her slender body—down towards his lap, emitting a surprised, girly squeal followed by a giggle as she straddled his hips, his hand entwining his fingers in hers.

"Sasuke, what are you doing?"

She giggled some more feeling his hand entwining with hers, as he silently placed the other gently behind her neck, and pulled her closer towards him.

Her free hand pressed up against his chest as he captured her lips in a chaste kiss. He grinned widely into the kiss and she followed in suit, his hand moving from the back of her neck down to her lower back.

They continued kissing slowly, his hands moving up the hem of her shirt and resting gently on the skin beneath of her lower back. He pressed her chest up against his own as he deepened the kiss. Sakura's hands unlaced from his own and wrapped around his neck as he wrapped his arms around her small waist. He turned to them both before laying her down on the couch, his muscular form resting atop of her.

He began trailing kisses down her jawline towards her ear, where he leaned closer to her ear and whispered softly to her, "Thank you so much, Sakura," before resuming his trail of kisses to her neck. He stopped kissing her and laid there for awhile, listening to her heartbeat for a while, the gentle rhythm slowly soothing him to sleep. Sakura remained awake, lost deep in her thoughts.

She was so happy that just her being here could put Sasuke's mind in such peace. He truly seemed so… different now. It were as if though his humanity, which had been buried away in the depths of his mind from his lost childhood for so long ago had finally been uncaged, and he was free to "live" again with even a little bit of peace of mind. And for her that was good enough. To see him in peace, was all she needed to know everything would be okay.

* * *

**A/N:** Oh mah gawsh, you guys/girls have made me sooo happy! I love you guys for your reviews, they really have been making my day. They've been motivating me to update faster as well. Thanks again, and I hope you enjoyed it. I wonder if you guys can figure out what Ino's secret is. Hehe. Till next time…which will probably be tomorrow…XD! Or maybe even sometime tonight, seeing as I'm still writing this fic haha. R&R, they make me smile :)


	4. A Little Uchiha Insight

**Disclaimer: **You know I don't own Naruto.

* * *

Sakura awoke the next morning to find herself still on the couch, her body covered in a small blanket with a note on the table beside the couch. She assumed that it was from Sasuke, whom was now nowhere in sight.

**

* * *

**

Sakura,

**I have a mission today. I left some cash on the table. Feel free to go buy anything you want in town, as long as you don't spend it all. I'll be home this evening. The mission isn't going to be very long anyway. See you then.**

**Sasuke**

* * *

She raised an eyebrow skeptically before glancing at a small amount of money sitting neatly on the table. She grinned widely, the blinking lights of the word "shopping" flashing in her head as she emitted a girly squeal. She abruptly rolled her eyes at her own silliness, and grabbed the cash off of the table.

She trudged towards the refrigerator to see if by chance there was something to eat in there. She shrugged her shoulders in defeat upon noticing the emptiness of the refrigerator, before whispering to herself, more than aloud. "Grocery shopping."

She rolled the small wad of money up and put it in her back pocket before grabbing the spare house key from the opposite end of the table. She walked outside and smiled to see the sun shining brightly for the first time in what had seemed like forever.

She locked the door to their new home, and began to walk towards the center of Kiri's marketplace.

**

* * *

**

[Konoha]

Everyone gathered around two freshly buried grave sites, their clothing all black, and their eyes filled with, or shedding, tears. Meanwhile, two new names are added to the infamous memorial stone just several rows below that of Kakashi's old teammate's, Obito and Rin.

Rather than attending the memorial service held, the famous Copy Nin instead watched the new names being carved into the monument, knowing now that he had to mourn two more losses. The pain of death came along with being a shinobi hand in hand, however, and Kakashi looked up to the sky, his visible eye looking sadder than usual.

Meanwhile, on the opposite side of town, Ino is seen inside of her large bedroom sitting at a vanity, her lashes damp from the tears that had just ceased falling. She brushed her long, blonde pony tail before looking downward and smiling weakly.

"Just you, me, and Shika now kid, eh?"

She ran her fingers across her abdomen. Ino had found out about two weeks ago that she was three months pregnant. She was going to tell Sakura the good news when she returned from her mission. It's funny how life can change in such an instant, isn't it?

She stood from the bench at her vanity and walked across the hall to a barely furnished room. The room was painted yellow and simply had a rocking chair, and some tools sitting on the ground. Soon, this room would be a nursery for her unborn son or daughter. She smiled a bit more happily at the thought.

In her heart, she knew Sakura would want her to be happy. But it was her very heart that now had her confused her to no end, because at that very same time, her heart was having a war within itself; debating whether to be mournful over the loss, or joyful at the new beginning. If her child was a girl, she knew she would certainly name her Sakura, to honor her friends' memory.

**

* * *

**

[Mist]

Sakura is seen carrying four grocery bags as she walks back towards her house. She stops abruptly noticing something she hadn't earlier that day – a baby store. She peered through the shop window and her mind became clouded with thoughts of how someday – which would probably be sooner than she would like – she and Sasuke would be parents.

Part of her was joyful at the thought, while another part was mortified. She had doubts but who doesn't? It's not something you can necessarily afford to fail at, you know? Plus, the Uchiha clan had a pretty bad track record with betrayal within the family.

She also realized another thing – she and Sasuke weren't going to have just one or two or three babies – there was a great chance he would want a lot of children, making his clan revival successful. She became nauseous at the thought of having ten or more little Sasuke's running around, or worse, little Itachi's. She cringed at that thought.

She finally pried herself away from the shop window, her thoughts deeply disturbing her to no end. Every time she blinked, she saw little sharingan's blazing, little flashes of onyx hair running past her chasing another flash of coal black eyes. She prayed to kami none of them came with the curse of pink – especially any of the males.

She arrived back at the house just as the sun was setting. She walked into the house to see onyx spikes sitting on the couch facing the wall.

"Hello, Sasuke-kun." Said man looked up, raising an eyebrow at the contents in her hand. She noticed his silent question and answered.

"Oh, these? I got some groceries with the money you left, but don't worry, I have some left over."

He said nothing. She sat the bags on the table, walking towards him.

"Sasuke-kun? Are you alright? You're being awfully quiet today."

He gazed up at her, and she noticed something about his eye, causing her to shriek in horror. Blood dripped down from his eyelid as he blinked, his pale cheeks stained with crimson.

"What happened?!"

She panicked. He looked at her calmly before responding.

"You should read those scrolls sometime," he motioned towards the bookshelf behind her, which she quickly averted her gaze to before her eyes flickered back to him.

"It's an effect of use of the Mangekyo Sharingan."

He stated simply.

"Why did you use it?!" She screamed in horror, blood flowing more from his eye with his every blink.

"Enemy ambush. I needed to subdue them as a last resort."

Before he could react—or blink again, for that matter—she had rushed to his side, and planted herself firmly on his lap. She pushed his head to the back of the couch with her fingertips pressed to his forehead. She pulled her shirt off and damped the cloth over the blood on his face.

Generally, he would have raised an eyebrow at her... or ravished her... by now. But he was in pain and it was very obvious. Sakura sent a large surge of healing chakra into his eye, and almost shrieked in horror. He was nearly blind!

"Sasuke-kun! Why didn't you tell me before?!" She screamed, shaking his shoulders in panic.

Suddenly, she sent a surge of more chakra to heal the old damage done to his eye's. The large amount of healing chakra was too much to handle on his brain and he passed out as it continued healing fragments of the damage done to his eye in almost microscopic amounts.

Her own vision became blurry as she had practically drained herself of all of her chakra supply. She finally gave into sleep after resting her forehead against his shoulder.

He awoke in darkness, thinking that Sakura had messed up the healing procedure and left him blind. Had she done that, he would probably kill her. Dojutsu users are rather "touchy" when it comes to their eyes. However, he looked over to the window and realized that it was simply dark due to the late time in the night.

He went to stand but felt his body weighed down by a half nude, unconscious kunoichi. He looked at her, noticing her faint breaths as he nudged her to awake.

He activated his three-tomoe sharingan and sighed in relief. She had only over exerted herself and needed to rest. He laid on the couch behind her, pulling her small form towards his chest as he covered them both up, just as he had the night before.

He looked around and noticed that his vision was better than it was before. He also noticed more finer details in his wife's features that he hadn't been able to notice before hand. The corner's of his mouth curved into a small smile as he picked up her sleeping form—blanket and all—and carried her into their large bedroom.

Sakura awoke as soon as he laid her onto the bed, noticing the heat that had once been pressed against her being taken away. He looked down at her as she sat up on her elbows weakly looking at him.

"Sasuke-kun... You're awake... Your eyes are working better, I take it..." She whispered as more of a statement than a question, and he gave a slight nod and pulled his shirt off, leaving him clad in only his boxers as he crawled into bed.

She looked at him and her arms gave way as she fell abruptly onto the pillows below her, still too weak to move. She didn't care however, and forced herself to sit completely up now, finding it a lot easier to hold her upward position this way that simply by leaning on her elbows.

As if completely oblivious to her choice of sleep wear—or lack thereof—she draped her legs over the side of the bed, attempting to stand.

"Don't over do it, you drained your chakra. You should rest."

She gave a weak nod before closing her eyes. Soon, she was overcome by sleep.

The next morning, Sakura awoke in an empty bed, and another note informing her that Sasuke had another mission today. She let out a long sigh before walking out into the living room. She stretched her arms up into the air before glancing over at the book shelf, where she seen four different scrolls neatly tucked next to one another.

She walked over towards the book shelf and grabbed all four, before walking over to the sofa. She sat three of the four scrolls on the table next to the couch, holding the fourth one in her hands as she read the title of it aloud.

"**The History of the Uchiha Clan."**

She raised an eyebrow before proceeding to read the scroll's handwritten information to herself, astounded by the clans extensive history, alongside the fact that the historic document was hand written by Uchiha Madara himself.

Once she read about the sacrifices that must be made to obtain the Mangekyo Sharingan, she would make sure to let Sasuke know that none of their children are ever to know of the secrets, in order to prevent history from repeating itself. Honestly, she had no idea how he'd react – either towards the statement or the fact that she would give him an order. But she had good reasons, which she hoped Sasuke would agree with.

The power of the Mangekyo Sharingan has proven to have created nothing but a chain of heartache and tragedy to those whom obtain it. Madara had killed his own brother for his Mangekyou, Itachi had killed his best friend Shisui to obtain his Mangekyou, Sasuke had killed Itachi... It was all a pattern that she hoped he would reasonably end for the sake of the Uchiha clan's future.

Before she had even realized it, the entire day had passed. She sat in the living room surrounded in scrolls and paper, all of which contained information on the Uchiha clan and the Sharingan. Suddenly, she heard the front door open and looked up from her place on the center of the living room floor to be greeted by Sasuke, whom had his eyebrow raised in curiosity.

"Reading much?" He asked her simply, emitting a nod and a small smile from Sakura in response.

"I see. Find anything out anything interesting?" She furrowed her eyebrows, deep in thought as she placed a finger to her chin, before answering.

"A few things. I have a question for you though, Sasuke-kun."

"Hm? What's that?"

"Are you going to tell our children... well, that is, when we have them... about the Mangekyou?"

He looked at her in surprise. "It's a part of being an Uchiha. Of course they will know."

"Despite all of the tragedy it has caused the clan in the past? The greed and the murders?"

"Hai. I have the Mangekyo myself. Because of that, it is inevitable that it's origins would be questioned. I had asked my father about the Mangekyo Sharingan after I seen Itachi's, not long before Itachi had murdered the Uchiha clan."

"I see..." Well, there goes her plan. Damn him and him always having a point...

"Anything else?"

"Nope. Not that I can think of," she began rolling up the scrolls individually before stacking them all neatly back on the shelf as she had found them, "the Uchiha clan has a rather astonishing history to it."

He nodded his head in response.

"Hai. It's very legendary and had once been undefeatable. I have no doubt that had Madara not assisted Itachi, the massacre on the clan may not have been successful. However, that is just my speculation. Either way though, it doesn't really matter. What's done is done. Now, I'm focused on reviving the clan, rather than dwelling on the loss of the original."

"Mhmm..."

Sasuke noticed the hesitation in Sakura's voice, and for once, decided to question her on it.

"What is it?"

"Huh? Oh, nothing. It's nothing..."

"Sakura... You're lying to me..."

"N-No I'm not! Honest, Sasuke-kun! I'm just tired, that's all. Actually, I think I'm going to head to bed."

She began to walk towards their bedroom after having put the scrolls back on their shelves. Sasuke refused to let the issue drop, however, and in a flash, he had her pinned against the wall.

"Sakura, you're hiding something from me. Tell me what it is..."

His voice almost sounded pleading. Almost. Sakura turned away slightly, trying to free herself from his grasp, to no avail.

He looked down at her, his gaze never leaving her now fully visible features. She looked at him awkwardly as he stared at her, his features having changed from determined to find some answers to admiration of the position they were both in. Unconsciously, he moved a hand from it's place on the wall, and slid the back of his knuckles in a feather-like stroke down Sakura's abdomen, slowly reaching the hem of her pajama bottoms, which she still hadn't changed out of.

"Umm, Sasuke-kun? Mmm..."

She felt his hand dart beneath the waistline of her shorts as he looked down at her. His gaze never left Sakura's face as his fingers began slowly moving in and out of her. She leaned backwards towards the wall for support as he followed her, pressing his now obvious erection against her thigh as he placed his knee between both of her legs, trapping her against the wall as his fingers remained in place, their movements quickening.

Suddenly she felt a second digit enter her and bit down on her lip. She closed her eyes as she felt his pace quicken and was beginning to feel a tight bundle of nerves emerging from deep within her stomach. Just as she was about to reach her peak, he pulled himself out of her—much to her displeasure, and continued staring at her.

Sakura's chest heaved heavily as she gave a long, aggravated sigh in frustration.

"Ugh! Sasuke-kun! No fair!" She whined, causing him to smirk as he pressed his body closer against hers. Leaning in closer to her jawline area just below her ear, he began whispering.

"Tell me what you want, Sakura." He asked huskily grinding his knee higher against her womanhood. She whined in response.

"Sasuke-kun! Ugh! You're such a tease!"

He chuckled for a moment before placing his hands at either side of her head, leaning against the wall. "Just tell me what you want Sakura, and I'll do it."

"Ugh... Fine! I want you to..." She paused, hesitating a moment as she blushed a bit before refraining.

"You want me to _**what,**_ Sakura?" He repeated his teasing with his knee and she let out a frustrated groan in protest.

"Ne, you're so mean, Sasuke! Fine...I want you to _**fuck**_ me, dammit!"

She practically screamed loud enough that the entire Mist Village could hear. He began chuckling again darkly.

"As you wish. But first..." He didn't finish what he was about to say as he reached for the hem of her shirt, pulling it abruptly over her head. She allowed him to do so before she did the same to his own shirt.

Before she could even comprehend what was happening next, she felt her pants and panties both being dragged down to her ankles as she stepped out of them almost mechanically.

He dropped his own pants and boxers to the floor and wrapped his arms tightly around her thighs, hoisting her up off of the ground as her legs instinctively wrapped around his waist, taking his entire length inside of her.

It was almost as painful as the first time, but much more pleasurable. Before she could comprehend much, she felt him thrusting in and out of her as hard as he could, her entire body jerking up roughly against the wall, before crushing back down against his muscular chest. Her shins dangled limply behind his waist as her thighs gripped ahold of his hips.

Her arms wrapped around his neck, pulling him in for a chaste kiss, to which he obliged. He gently bit down on her bottom lip, before suckling on a bit. His lips dragged along her slender jawline as he leaned towards her ear to whisper something.

"I've requested that you don't have any missions for awhile, Sakura." He said with a smirk as her eyes widened.

"What? Why?!" She slammed the palms of her hands against his chest muscles, indicating for him to stop, though he didn't oblige, only instead whispering into her ear again as he quickened the pace.

"Because, I'm going to come home every night, and every single night is going to be just like this—I'm going to fuck you senseless until you give me an heir, and you **will** give me an heir, Sakura."

She let out a gasp as her jaw dropped, an involuntary shudder emitting throughout her body just from his words alone. She didn't say anything in response, but instead moaned as he pulled himself almost completely out, before shoving himself back in, hitting a point deep inside her that practically sent her over the edge.

"S-Sasuke!" She moaned in pleasure, causing him to let out a grunt in response before doing the same thing over again. He kept repeating this, thrusting into her until she raked her nails across his back, tiny lines of blood beginning to appear as he gave another loud grunt partially in pain, but mostly in pleasure.

He gave her a few more of those rough thrusts that she had appeared to be enjoying the most. Pleased with her response, he continued thrusting until he sent her over the edge, as she dragged him there with her. The two of them finally reached their peak and climaxed together. Sasuke remained inside of Sakura, slowly easing them both to the ground gently as they both sat there in a thin layer of sweat, panting heavily.

After a few moments, he finally pulled himself out of her, before picking her up bridal style. She stiffened a bit in surprise before asking him what he was doing. He simply answered her with four words. "On to round two."

Her eyes widened as she was still trying to come down from her high. Sasuke certainly had a lot of stamina.

**

* * *

**

**A/N: **Eight pages on OpenOffice long. FF messed it up lol. I just noticed it too Why didn't someone tell meh dangit! Anyyyyways.. Hope you guys enjoyed the new lemon. Hehe. I figured I'd put in another one. A bit shorter than the rest, but I felt this was a good place to end the chapter, ne? Let me know what you guys and girls think :). Oh, and I want to thank you guys for your reviews, subscriptions, favorites, and overall support for this story. You all truly do inspire me to continue writing more. :)


	5. Oh, Baby!

**Disclaimer: **Don't own Naruto.

* * *

Several weeks had gone by rather quickly and yet slowly all at the same time. They also had passed all in the same routine – Sasuke would go on missions each day, while Sakura occupied herself somehow at home. And then, whenever Sasuke would come home from his missions, he and Sakura would try their hardest to successfully conceive a child.

Their efforts, however, had all seemed to be in utter vain, as it was now the beginning of the bitter Winter and they had still made no progress whatsoever.

In October, Sasuke had even taken the entire month off from being a shinobi, abruptly refusing missions to continue his efforts to successfully impregnate her, though Sakura's body just didn't seem to want to comply.

Both Sakura and Sasuke begun to go into an internal panic, though both for different reasons and neither seeming to mention it to the other. Sakura, on the one hand, had feared that if she hadn't conceived after that much sex daily, sometimes trying between three to four times in the day time **plus** three to four more times at night. It all really depended on how much energy they had left over afterwards, though.

She feared that she could be possibly barren, and if that **was** the case, she feared that if and when Sasuke found out, he would simply leave her for somebody else.

On the other hand, Sasuke had feared that their lack of success could have been his own fault, and had thus increased his efforts ten times what they were before.

In the middle of November, the Winter had arrived earlier than usual. The temperature outside was bitter and breathtakingly cold. The entire area had been covered in a thick layer of snow and ice, the air growing much foggier than usual.

During these past few weeks, much to Sasuke's surprise (and relief), Sakura had never once questioned what had become of Konohagakure and what they had assumed had happened to the two of them.

Quite the contrary, actually. Instead, she seemed more focused on the very same thing that he was now – conceiving a child, though she never admitted it aloud, nor did he.

Personally, Sasuke thought she was finally growing bored sitting home alone all day with nothing to do. Sure, he "entertained" her in the evenings, but even so, she was bound to get sick of being cooped up.

He had proven his theory on one strange day in September...

* * *

_**[Flashback]**_

_On what seemed to be just another regular, foggy September day, Uchiha Sasuke walked into his large home to the thick odor of primer paint, his wife nowhere to be seen. _

_He raised a curious eyebrow before slowly and hesitantly following source of the faint yet fairly strong smell, leading him into one of his home's many spare bedrooms nearby his and Sakura's own. _

_Inside, he found a sleeping Sakura sprawled out on the floor of a now fully-furnished nursery. He knew for a _**fact**_ she _**wasn't**_ pregnant yet, so then...why the sudden change in pace all of a sudden? No matter what he thought, he just couldn't seem to quite put his finger on the source of the rash redecorating. _

_She must have been **extremely** bored to have done this, but then again, he wasn't one to complain about such a thing. In fact, the very sight before him had suddenly filled his heart with a rare warmth, one that he couldn't recall feeling since he was a child; back when his mother would hold him in a tight embrace before bedtime._

_He looked down at his sleeping and exhausted wife, the site before him was one he would never be able to forget._

_She was wearing denim overalls and an old, ragged t-shirt. Her cheeks had two tiny splotches of cream-colored paint on them, and in his opinion, she had managed to decorate the room rather well, not to mention in such short time. _

_His mission was actually shorter today than usual. He figured she had done all of it to surprise him, which it did; to make him happy, which it certainly also did. Everything looked so elegant, just the way an Uchiha heir's bedroom should. Even the painting had been nicely done, and he'd have to ask her where she'd learned to paint later on after she had rested._

_In the back, left corner of the new nursery, sitting nearby the now dry wall was a fully assembled, pearly white, wooden crib. _

_Inside of the crib was several neatly folded cream and white colored blankets, all lying atop a pale yellow crib comforter set, yellow sheets, a few small matching pillows, a large yellow quilt draped elegantly over top of the bedding, and several stuffed animals to top it all off. _

_Above the crib was a mobile that had soft stars and moons and sheep all dangling gently above it. The windows had cream-colored yellow curtains hanging from them and the carpeting was still the same white as it had been when they moved in. _

_There was a rocking chair in the right corner of the room, as well as a small child's dresser around the corner of the bedroom right next to the door. There was a small changing table lying on the right side of the room as well. _

_All in all, the room was fairly large to begin with—large enough to serve as a possible master bedroom, though the house **did** belong to an Uchiha, whom settled for less than the very best._

_Even now, with the nursery furniture scattered about, the room still seemed slightly rather empty. He looked down at his sleeping (and now extremely exhausted) wife, whom was curled up into a little ball on the rug napping._

_He couldn't resist the small smile that reached his lips, nor the chuckle that followed, as he walked towards her, picking her slender body up bridal style. He gently carried her out of the room after shutting off the light, and then he tucked her into their bed._

* * *

She was still forbidden (by Sasuke, of course) to go on missions, and it irked her to no end. However, she just dealt with it the best she could and tried to keep from strangling him for his constant demands of rough, passionate, sex at all waking hours of the day and most of the night, as well as his continuing frustrations towards her lack of conception, which he had made visibly obvious on several occasions.

In fact, not too long ago, the two had gotten into a huge argument over it, both equally frustrated and anxious to conceive – which they were still failing miserably to do – while at the same time, they both had grown extremely restless and irritated. Finally, they mutually snapped, overly smothered in the frustration.

They started yelling and fighting, as well as casting a lot of blame for their lack of success on many different things, though neither had once crossed a line quite to the point of blaming each other—at least, not admittedly to one another.

It actually wasn't until this particular morning on the first of December that things had taken a rather different turn in pace. Actually, it had taken more of a swan dive for the best.

A woman's scream had loudly erupted from within their bedroom, where Sasuke had left Sakura sleep in that morning.

Upon hearing his wife's sudden scream, Sasuke—whom was sitting on the couch in front of the fireplace minding his own business as he waited for Sakura to awake—had arose to his feet and darted towards their bedroom to see Sakura sitting up in their large bed with her small, delicate hand glowing with her emerald colored medical chakra pressed up against her stomach.

"Sasuke-kun! Come here! Quick! I-I can feel something!"

Sasuke had already activated his sharingan immediately and instinctively before he had even gotten to the bedroom.

As he ran in, his face had been stricken with slight panic, though it had been gone in another instant before she could be too sure.

He looked down hesitantly at his wife's sitting form as his sharingan looked deep into the depths of her flat abdomen. Immediately, he noticed something he hadn't before – there was more chakra coursing throughout Sakura's stomach than usual.

He put his hand to her stomach, trying to get a closer feel for this mysterious second chakra signature, just to make sure. Once he had confirmed it to be true, for the first time in a long time he gave her a genuine smile of happiness, before wrapping his arms tightly around her in a warm hug.

"Sakura... You're pregnant...?"

He asked her, slightly unsure of the certainty, though fairly confident that he was correct. He was in total shock and joy at the same time and honestly he could barely react, other than hugging her and smiling.

Finally, all of their efforts had paid off. They were **finally** going to have an heir and a new beginning of the Uchiha clan would finally begin.

Sasuke's thoughts began to race as he hugged Sakura tightly, as if to never let her go again. He wouldn't have believed it unless he had seen it with his own eyes.

Even then, though, it was a bit hard for him to believe. The night before, something _**had**_ seemed different about her though he couldn't quite put his finger on it and ignored it.

"I'm going to go to the doctor tomorrow just to make sure though, okay Sasuke-kun? I'm a medic and all but even I could be mistaken..." She trailed off biting her lip as he broke their hug looking at her face.

"Do what you must, though I am fairly certain you **are** pregnant, Sakura."

He tried his best to keep his composure remaining unfazed, and she smiled a bit knowing that he truly was happy, as was she. He leaned forward kissing her passionately on the lips before embracing her in another tight hug.

Sakura had never expected Sasuke to seem so happy or affectionate... especially not at the same time. Of course, sex is one thing, but this... this was happiness that was rare for the Uchiha, something that she hadn't quite ever seen as intensely before. But even so, here they are.

Sakura gazed out the window to notice that the snow had completely stopped falling. It was early and she figured if she left now, she may be able to make it to the doctors office. Maybe...

"Sasuke-kun, look outside! The snow has finally stopped! Maybe I can get into the doctors office sooner than tomorrow!"

His eyes darted to her as he gave her a hard look, before it immediately softened a bit. Truth be told, he didn't want her walking in this freezing weather, but he also couldn't deny his overly excited wife, as his own excitement towards her possible—and most likely—pregnancy which he truly did want to get confirmed.

"Hai. As I said, do what you must."

Sakura grinned and hugged him again before kissing him on the cheek.

She jumped out of bed and pulled on a thick pair of pants, as well as a long, black sweater. She grabbed her black trench coat and a hat and ran out the door, disappearing into sight.

Sasuke fell back onto the couch, his hands folded in front of his face as he waited anxiously for Sakura to return. He didn't have a doubt in his mind that she was pregnant. Otherwise, he would have went with her to the doctor. But instead, he let her go alone, as she seemed to want it that way.

Now, all he needed to do was wait for a final confirmation.

* * *

Sakura walked into the small building of the "Kirigakure General Hospital", the building looking very large and empty. A long hall the size of a cathedral held a lone, small desk at the opposite end, and Sakura began to walk slowly towards it with her hands in her pockets.

Over time, she had gotten to know some of the hospital workers and staff; acquaintances that she now could consider "friends".

At one time, she had even convinced Sasuke to allow her to lend her medical aid to them on a few occasions. She recognized the secretary at the front desk. She was an older woman, her hair black with a tint of silver streaked through it. She must have been in her late fifties.

"Ohayo, Yurichi-san!"

Sakura smiled at said woman, whom looked up over her small, square glasses, her lips upturning into a warm, welcoming smile.

"Ohayo, Sakura-san. What brings you here today?"

"I'm actually here to see the main doctor. Is he in today?"

"Hai. Just sign in, and I'll go find him for you. Today is moving rather slow, so you picked a good time to come in."

"Arigato."

Sakura picked up a clipboard with a sign in sheet attached, and wrote her name on it, before sitting it back on the counter top. She walked over to a nearby chair and sat down, awaiting the doctor to arrive.

Several short moment's later, a tall man with black hair and glasses, appearing to be in his late forties, walks out alongside Yurichi, the nurse from before, as well as another younger woman, whom appeared to be around Sakura's age.

"Hey there, Uchiha-san. What brings you here today?"

The doctor asked with a small smile.

"Oh, I'm just here for a check up, is all."

"Hai, hai. Come right this way then, and we'll go have a look."

"Arigato, Taki-san."

Sakura followed the doctor and his assistant down a long hallway and into an observation room, where he ushered her to sit down on an examination table. She did so, and he began to ask her some questions.

"Okay, is everything feeling okay?"

"Umm, actually, I was wondering if you could do a pregnancy test, Taki-san."

"Oh?" He paused a moment before smiling brighter.

"Ah, of course, of course. Just lie back and we'll take a look.

She did as instructed and the doctor emitted some of his own medical chakra to his hands, the only difference between his own and Sakura's was the color.

His appeared to be a dark purple, indicating his more advanced medical training as compared to Sakura's jade chakra.

After a few moments of prodding his hands around on Sakura's abdomen, the doctor's chakra had abruptly stopped flowing.

"See anything, doctor?" Sakura asked nervously.

"Hai. You are indeed pregnant, Mrs. Uchiha – two months, to be exact."

Sakura's jaw dropped. Two months? And she _**just**_ noticed the chakra signature now?

"Doctor, how is that possible? I only felt a faint chakra signature just this morning."

"Hai. That is because your child as finally begun to develop into a fetus, meaning that it's chakra gates are developing as well. We wont be able to tell much else at this point as it is still far too early. Just come back in about a month for a check up and we can give you a number of how many your carrying, as well as a gender; that is, if you'd like to know it."

"A n-number? Wait, there could be more?"

Sakura got a bit more nervous as the doctor's young assistant put her hand up to her mouth to stifle a giggle.

"Of course! There is always a chance at multiples in every pregnancy. But as the doctor has said, it's still too early to tell."

"Wow! Okay, well I'm going to go home and tell my husband! Arigato!"

Sakura ran out of the hospital doors with a big smile on her face.

She finally reached her house and inserted the key to unlock the front door. She opened the door to her home to find an anxious Sasuke waiting for her on the couch.

"Well? What did he say?"

She twiddled her thumbs a moment in slight hesitation, inwardly satisfied with his anxiousness.

"Well, they wont know exactly how _**many**_ there are, or a gender for that matter... at least not until next month, but... well... we're definitely pregnant!"

His eyes seemed to light up with joy, but again, like all of his other mysterious emotions, he masked it just as quickly as he revealed it. She ignored it as he embraced her in another hug, much to her own surprise.

It certainly was a rare thing for Sasuke to reveal his emotions so openly towards remotely anyone, especially her.

Despite them having been married for several months now, she still had a lot left to discover about him and slowly, but surely, she was starting to see beyond the ice burg that was still shielding his heart.

* * *

Several hours later, Sakura sat down on the couch beside Sasuke, both deep in thought as they read through several separate scrolls from Madara's shelf. Sasuke's curiosity having gotten the best of him regarding his clan's past, he glanced down at the paper before him.

He briskly skimmed through a few lines, uninterested with information he already knew. He looked over at Sakura, who was deep in thought.

* * *

_**[Flashback]**_

_A blonde, pony-tailed kunoichi smirked with a cocky smile at her pink haired friend. Both are seen sitting at the infamous Konohagakure ramen stand, Ichiraku, each eating a bowl of miso ramen as they both giggled among one another._

"_So, Ino-pig, have you finally told Shika-kun how you feel about him?" Sakura giggled some more from behind her hand girlishly as she waited for her friends reply._

"_I did yesterday, yeah." Ino blushed a bit as she recalled the memory._

"_And? How did it go! I want details!"_

_Ino grinned at her friend._

"_Well... **Fine **if you **must** know! Shikamaru asked me out on a date..."_

_The girls entwined their fingers and squealed in glee, both laughing at nothing in particular, but merely for the sake of happiness._

"_So, do I detect wedding bells in the future?"_

"_Forehead! He hasn't even went out with me yet!" _

_Although Ino tried her best to sound stern, she couldn't suppress the small chuckle that followed._

"_How about the baby carriage then?"_

"_Hey! If there's ever going to be a baby carriage, you better promise me that I don't have to do it alone!"_

_Sakura giggled some more. _

"_I don't know in Shikamaru has enough stamina for the both of us Pig, but we'll see!"_

"_Not with Shika! You know what I meant!" Both burst into compulsive giggles, doubling over in laughter at the thought._

"_Seriously though Sakura," Ino said as she slowly began to slow her laughing, her tone becoming more serious. _

"_Please, promise you'd be there for me if I ever were to... _**you ****know**_. It'd be nice, ya know? We could like... get pregnant at the same time and our kids could grow up together... They could be so much better off in their friendship than we were growing up... And we'd have to make sure to teach them not to fight or rival themselves over stupid smug, bastard boy."_

_Sakura let out a soft chuckle. _

"_Alright, Ino. I promise. If you get a bun in the oven, I'll figure out a way to do the same."_

_Ino grinned widely at her friend as the memory fades out to black._

"Sakura? Sakura? Hello?"

Sakura shook her head, returning from her small stroll down memory lane to see her husband waving his hand rapidly in front of her face trying to gain her attention.

"Huh? Oh, sorry Sasuke-kun! I must have dazed off."

She let out a nervous laugh, her features obviously giving away her sadness that her memory with her best friend ended.

She wondered if Ino even knew that Sakura was even alive? She wondered a lot about Konoha, now that she actually thought about it.

She wondered if Naruto—or anyone else for that matter—had changed at all, though she doubted it. Especially about Naruto, because to her, he would would always be the same old Naruto no matter what.

And how about Tsunade? Was she still in good health?

Did any of her friends miss her nearly as much as she truly missed them, particularly right now?

"Sakura. What are you thinking about?" Sasuke asked, eying her quizzically.

"Ino... And pretty much everyone back in Leaf..."

He nodded his head slowly in understanding.

"Ah, I see."

She didn't say anything else, only instead drifting back into her memories.

* * *

[Flashback]

"_Forehead! Come on! You better not be late for my wedding, dammit! This is supposed to be the happiest damn day of my entire life! Wake up, dammit! It is your responsibility, as my _**best ****friend**_, to be awake!" _

_Oh yes, Ino would definitely be milking _**that**_ for all it was worth. The angry, blonde kunoichi pounded her fists against Sakura's apartment door, clad only in curlers and a long, pink dressing robe. She held a long, white wedding gown wrapped carefully in plastic._

_Soon, she was greeted by a half-awake pinkette kunoichi whom merely gave her a half-hearted wave and a "Yo, Ino...Morning..." before ushering the bride-to-be inside of her house. _

_Finally, realization dawned on her as she saw a very irritated Ino tapping her foot on the ground before her._

"_Oh... my... Kami! Ino! What time is it?!"_

"_It's almost noon, Forehead! I've been trying to wake your ass up for over an hour and a half now! Why didn't you get up?"_

"_Ohh, Ino! I am _**so**_ sorry! I almost forgot!"_

"_Almost _**forgot**_?!" _

_The steaming blonde kunoichi clenched her fist in anger, her eye twitching slightly as her face turned beat red with fury._

"_Some maid of honor you are, Forehead! Forgetting your best friend's own wedding ON HER WEDDING DAY?!" _

_She abruptly 'humphed' before crossing her arms and turning her head to the side. Sakura began removing Ino's curlers, giggling a bit as a lone tear ran down her cheek._

"_S-Sakura...?"_

"_I can't believe your getting married, Ino..."_

_Ino's eyes filled up with tears of her own. _

"_I know, Forehead! I can't either! And to _**Shikamaru**_, of _**all**_ people! Who would have ever thought? He'll probably even be asleep at the end of the aisle waiting on me! Lazy bastard... Ooh! I _**swear**_, if that lazy baka is asleep when I come down to say our vows, so help me—"_

"_Not unless _**I'd**_ get to him first!"_

_Both women narrowed their eyes at the same time and went into a double 'cha' stance, their previous saddened emotions almost forgotten. Almost..._

"_Ino—!!"_

"_Sakura—!!"_

"_I cant believe you're—!!"_

"_I know, Sakura! I know—!!"_

_The two women hugged and cried a river. _

_By the end of that little overly-emotional moment, they both had managed to go through approximately 356 tissues, four tubes of eyeliner, two tubes of mascara (as it seemed to run the moment they'd break into a waterfall of tears, moments after re-applying it), and finally, Ino and Sakura were ready for Ino's wedding._

* * *

Sakura gave a sad smile. She still couldn't believe Ino had gotten married before her. She felt so guilty now for breaking her promise about being there if Ino and Shikamaru were to ever have kids of their own, especially now that she would be having her own children.

She supposed it was for the best though. If Konoha thought she was dead, they could make closure and proceed with their lives in peace, rather than to spend their efforts as they did so long ago trying to bring Sasuke back.

Konohagakure would always remain deeply embedded in her heart and etched in her memories. She still held the Will Of Fire though she now resided in the Land of Water. To her though, inside was all that mattered.

She had Sasuke – a dream from her childhood being lived out. Sometimes she feared that this was all a dream – too good to be true, that she would awaken from. Then, reality would sink in all over again and all she could ever do is simply smile.

A month had finally passed slower than ever and it was now mid-January. The snow was still falling though not as heavily. The sky was still pale with the mist that covered it's namesake.

_**

* * *

**_

[Flashback]

"_Uchiha Sakura, I am pleased to inform you that you are having identical twin boys. Both are healthy as are you, and your due date is on July 25th, though I'm sure your already aware that the dates can sometimes come either earlier or later."_

_Sakura nodded her head in astonishment. Talk about all of their 'hard work' paying off, huh?_

* * *

Sakura opened the door and walked inside of her house, the small bump on her belly slightly becoming a bit more visible, though not too much. Just like a month ago, she is greeted by an anxious Sasuke.

"Well?" He asks, his impatience getting the best of him.

She gives him a soft smile as she holds up two of her fingers in a peace sign type of notion, indicating the number two.

"Twins...? Really...?!"

She nodded her head smiling warmly at him. He got up from his seat on the couch and picked her up hugging her and spinning her around a bit as he kissed her passionately on the lips before pulling away.

"Wait... Do you know.... the genders?"

She nodded again. "Two boys, Sasuke-kun. We're going to have twin _**identical**_ boys!"

He grinned at her kissing her passionately on the couch, laying her back a bit as he gently leaned forward, careful not to put any unneeded pressure on her abdomen.

She noticed his caution and giggled a bit as he kissed her further on the lips wrapping his arms around her. She wasn't showing as much just yet, her stomach only slightly rotund and sticking out in front of her merely several small inches.

Sasuke was rubbing his fingertips hesitantly across her abdomen, almost too cautious to poke at his unborn sons, despite his excitement to do so.

Sakura grabbed his hand rather quickly and placed his entire palm on her now exposed belly as he let it rest there gently before sliding it behind the small of her back, gently pulling her body closer towards his as he gazed at her, his eyes full of passion and love.

For once, Uchiha Sasuke didn't run away. For once, Uchiha Sasuke was doing something good. And truth be told, he liked it.

**

* * *

**

**A/N: **Good place to end it, I think. 11 pages. Making slight progress. I'm sorry if it seems I've gone a bit out of my own writing style and speeded things up too fast, but I absolutely felt it had to be done. Don't forget to R&R :) They make meh smilez :)


	6. Tension and Love

**Disclaimer: **You already know what it is. I don't own jack, so yeah. =P

* * *

"Sasuke-kun, activate your Mangekyo for me, please."

A now five-month pregnant and overly-bored Sakura asked her husband as calmly and contained as she possibly could, considering the situation. Said man did so as a surge of green healing chakra was sent through his iris from the fingertips that were gently probing his eye sockets.

Sakura gasped aloud at the site before her. Each time Sasuke's Mangekyo Sharingan is activated, his eyesight began to re-damage itself, slowly deteriorating into almost nothing. Sakura was certain that had she not ever healed him, he would have be long-since blind by now.

Her fingertips slowly shifted back and forth across his the bone structures around his eyes, the tiny fibers of Sasuke's eyesight continuing to be re-sewn together. The longer the two chakra flows had battled one another for dominance – his own chakra attempting to resist her healing chakra from entering his body – the sooner it was quickly over powered by it, eventually welcoming it to repair the damage inflicted by the kekkei genkai that could very well someday claim his vision forever.

After the last hour of her probing and healing, his vision finally became strong again, at the cost of her exhaustion. Sasuke rarely allows her to heal him anymore in fear of the unborn babies' safety whilst inside of her womb. So, he refrains from using his sharingan at all to resist the temptation of using his Mangekyo. Today, he wasn't so lucky.

He finally had returned to completing missions about one week after he and Sakura had found out that they were expecting twin boys. Today was his second A-Ranked mission after returning from the job.

* * *

**_[Flashback]_**

_Three dark shadows are seen darting through a forest, the sunlight barely shining through the thick shrubbery of the surrounding trees. Mid-run, the three come to a complete and sudden halt upon hearing a crunching sound._

"_Uchiha-san... did you hear that?" _

_A younger man with long black hair pulled back in a ponytail, appearing to be in his young teens, asked Sasuke quietly as he, Sasuke, and their other teammate Kirichi held their mask over their chakra._

_Sasuke's eyes were already scanning the area, the center of them spinning red and black. Suddenly, a shower of kunai erupts from a nearby bush, almost hitting the jounin trio, before they jump out of the way quickly without a scratch._

"_Ambush!" Kirichi screamed as the three jounin backed up into each other, quickly being surrounded by about 20 unfamiliar shinobi with murderous gleams in their eyes._

"_No," Sasuke spoke again, "shadow clones. There's only one actual person here."_

_His eyes flickered around the circle of men slowly inching closer to himself and his two comrades. His arm swung out before him as nineteen puffs of smoke are seen disappearing. Sasuke draws his razor-thin wire back to his finger looking around the area once again, seeing pale hands forming a seal. Before the enemy nin could finish his jutsu, Sasuke had pinned him to a nearby tree with four kunai._

"_Mangekyo, Sharingan!"_

* * *

Sakura let out a soft sigh in sheer frustration at her husbands recklessness. He knew the penalties of using his Mangekyo, and how it not only affected him, but it affected her as well as their two unborn children.

Those three were people he could not afford to risk. Generally, he would suggest her allow him to be blinded and heal older damage after the twins were born. But of course, he was married to a feisty, pink-haired kunoichi with the Will of Fire and a wrath that could make even the strongest of men cower in fear. Plus, her more recent hormone changes weren't helping with either of the two strengths his wife held.

Another factor into him consenting so willingly was the fact that unlike any of the other times when he had come to her, seeking her soothing chakra to repair his foolish and ultimately self-inflicted damages, he would be in writhing pain.

In fact, she had to summon some chakra in her hands just to hold him still enough for her to straddle his waist, a tactic that had hence proven to make him stiffen with strength he may never have otherwise.

She knew that as long as she was sitting on his lap, he would never budge in fear of harming his unborn sons. Her stomach was finally starting to show a bit more, though it was short-lived due to her otherwise small overall stature.

Sasuke towered about a half of a foot over Sakura, and prior to her pregnancy, she had only weighed roughly 120 pounds. Now, she had naturally put on baby weight, but it was all baby – something that she looked forward to after the pregnancy was getting her figure back and feeling beautiful again because now? Now, she just felt _**fat**_…

"Sasuke-kun, why? Just... why?"

She let out an annoyed sigh – a trait she had picked up on her husband, among several few.

"I couldn't help it," he crossed his arms quite childishly. Sakura rolled her eyes at him and giggled a bit.

"Oh _**sure**_, and I suppose that the overkill option is _**always**_ the right path to take after you defeat 19 shadow clones with ease, only to have to defeat and kill the last and probably most weakest out of them all, at least in comparison to you, of course."

Generally, he would smirk at her compliment of his strength that he had fought tooth-and-nail to acquire. But not like this.

Not with a five month pregnant, kunoichi pinning him to the floor – more so, the wife of an Uchiha.

He inwardly shuttered at the thought of what she could do now that her hormones shifted a bit more than usual, and cringed at the thought of how easily she could break every bone in his body just as easily as she could repair them.

"At the cost of your vision, too. You have got to think more logically about this, _**especially**_ during a battle. What are you going to do when I can't be there to fix your eyes," he didn't like how she worded that, "how are you going to manage when I can't be giving you these healing sessions," he really didn't like how she had worded that.

"I swear Sasuke-kun, I'm about to stick a seal on your forehead. Maybe then you wont use your Sharingan so recklessly," he growled in frustration.

He _**really**_ didn't like how she had worded any of that, particularly the parts about her not being able to be there for him. The thought of ever losing her—in any way, shape, or form—scared him beyond all means. And what was that about 'sticking a seal on his head?'

She certainly had an attitude on her, but he figured that was why he loved her so much. He hated the old Sakura – the clingy, love-sick, pleading Sakura.

That Sakura was a weakness that he had never thought in a million years she would overcome. But she did, and he fell for the stronger version of Sakura hard. Now, he was head over hands on this one. This kunoichi was definitely worth everything in the world. But then again, her attitude...

"Funny, Sakura. Really funny..."

She rolled her eyes again before slowly beginning to grip onto the couch beside her place on the floor, where she was sitting on in front of Sasuke.

"I thought it was too, Sasuke-kun." He lifted an eyebrow before letting out a small sigh in slight yet silent defeat. Sakura walks over towards the kitchen counter and grabs a banana, peeling it and slowly eating it.

"Honestly, Sasuke-kun, you'd be better off if you did put a seal on that thing."

"No."

"And why not—"

"I've had enough seals placed on me during my entire lifetime, thank you very much." He replied bitterly.

Finally, she stopped asking her pesky questions and resumed eating her banana in silent bliss. She placed a hand up against her small, barely swollen belly as she let out a sigh, walking back towards their bedroom without saying another word to him. She figured he'd have followed her, thinking she was ignoring him, though he strangely didn't. She figured he probably just didn't care either way.

She suddenly had a strange and dangerous idea but at this point, was feeling too homesick and alone to care not to proceed. She took a pen and some paper from a desk drawer in their bedroom and began free writing.

* * *

**Dear Naruto,  
I don't know if you guys are aware or not, but I want you all to know that I am alive. I've been gone quite awhile now, I am well aware, but rest assured that I am in good health. I am writing you because... I'm feeling homesick and... I miss you, Naruto. Hell, I miss everyone back home. **

**Sasuke-kun and I got married and now we're expecting twins! Amazing, isn't it? Who would have thought that me and the arrogant and overly proud Sasuke Uchiha would be having twins, ne? We also left the country not long after we went missing, so this probably wont reach you for awhile. Either way, I wanted to update you to let you know that everything is fine and that you are in my thoughts.**

**I really wish I could see you, Naruto. I would love to be there when you become the next Hokage, which I'm still one hundred percent positive that you will be. Please Naruto, don't hate me for being with Sasuke-kun. **

**Please understand that I'm doing this for myself for a change and I truly am happy.**

**I have to be going now. I may write you again, but I'm not quite sure. Please tell our friends that I miss them dearly and I am sorry. They'll listen to you. Take care of yourself, Naruto. I'll do the same. And I definitely will make sure Sasuke is alright for you.**

**Love Always,**

**Sakura  
**

* * *

Sakura folded the letter up and put it in her pocket as she walked out towards her living room door.

"I'm going into town for a bit, Sasuke-kun."

"Hn." So he's back to that again, eh?

Sakura closed the door quickly behind her as she began to walk down the front steps of her porch, her destination being not far ahead in town.

* * *

Sakura walked down the street as the wind whipped chillingly through her hair. She wasn't completely certain of whether or not to actually mail the letter to her friends.

On one hand, she felt guilty for probably having them worry about her for so long, but then again, there was always the slight chance that they thought she was dead. For the latter, this would be undoubtedly a mistake—a **big** mistake. She refrained a moment longer as she pulled out the tiny letter and stared at it a moment.

Naruto...

She truly did miss her blonde former teammate's presence – the warmth that he radiated throughout any room that he walked into. Right about now, she wished that she actually was back in Konoha with everybody she had left behind for Sasuke. But there was no going back now.

If she did, and they realized that she was alive, she would be considered immediately as a missing nin. For carrying the Uchiha's children, she would be targeted to die as soon as someone got the chance to wipe her off of the bingo books. But that was considering that the village had thought she had died.

She slipped the tiny piece of paper back into her pocket before taking a deep breath as she walked inside of the Kirigakure Post Office, where several uniformed mail courier shinobi walked about frantically gathering their letters for delivery. She slowly reached her small hand into her coat pocket and pulled her hand out holding the small, folded paper.

Just as she was about to hand it to one of the couriers, a firm hand grasped her wrist.

"Sakura."

"S-Sasuke-kun, I—"

Before she could finish, he pulled her out of the post office the note still in his hand, as he pinned her small wrist to the wall with ease, leaning closer to her.

"Who is this letter to, Sakura?" He asked, holding the small piece of paper up gently in his fingertips.

"I-I was writing to N-Naruto... I wanted to let him know that I'm okay! I didn't tell him any clues of where we were though, honestly, I didn't! It's just... it's just that—"

Tears threatened to fall from her eyes as he looked at her, anger still visible though it was slowly fading – but not quite fast enough.

"You can't write to Konoha," he cut her off again pausing briefly to let out a short sigh before continuing, "because they think that we're both dead, Sakura, and have thought so since I brought you here."

Her eyes widened a small bit in surprise, though she quickly relaxed. So that was how they had so much peace now, huh?

"Let go of me, Sasuke."

He looked at her as if she were more inferior to him than ever before. Smirking a bit, he responded with a short and simple "no."

She balled her hands into tight fists as her rage began to grow. He was truly pushing her buttons right in and she was now officially royally pissed off at him for what he did – what he has **_been_** doing. All of the lies and betrayal – how could he keep something like this from her?

She was his **_wife_** and although it took the arrogant Uchiha's some extra time to let something so **_trivial_** to sink into those thick, pretty heads of theirs, the factor still remained – she **was** his wife, he was **not** the least bit superior to her, and she **would** beat that knowledge into him until he was black and blue.

What baffled Sakura's mind the most was how badly he had broken her trust, I mean this was in one of the worst ways possible. How many other secrets did he have? She feared to find that one out...

Enhancing a wrist with chakra, she freed herself from his grasp before quickly planting a chakra-filled foot into his gut. He doubled over in pain and winced momentarily, though realizing that he had felt much worse pain inflicted on him during his lifetime, he was enabled to regain composure quickly after.

Sakura began to walk back towards their home silently and he followed her, trailing a few feet behind, waiting for her to speak, though she remained silent the entire short trip there. When they walked into the house, she still didn't speak to him, still pissed off about what he had done.

"What did you do, Sasuke...?" She whispered softly as her back leaned against the wall before sliding gently down to the floor.

"I used a forbidden jutsu to turn the corpses of two of your three attackers into complete replica's of the both of us us so that Konoha shinobi would no longer make attempts to bring myself back, nor you. They think we are dead. Also, I wiped out Otogakure."

Her eyes widened in shock and horror. He killed the entire village? And he kept something like this from her? Suddenly, she felt sick to her stomach realizing that during her brief time spent in Otogakure, she had seen children and non-shinobi citizens. He slaughtered them as well?

"H-How could you?! There were civilians in that village! Children!"

She barely kept her nausea at bay before looking up at him, her eyes filled with pain and betrayal. It was a look he hadn't seen in years – and one he had once upon a time hoped to never have to see again.

"It needed to be done. The village was a hindrance to the world and would only cause further problems for everyone else later on."

She looked into his cruelly devoid eyes. He was so cold, just like before at this very moment. This wasn't the Sasuke she married. This wasn't the Sasuke she had fallen in love with. This was Sasuke The Avenger, only The Avenger had done his part and avenged. And having done so, what was left of that person now? A murderer? Was that it? She was just simply married to a cold hearted murderer who was using her to revive his clan?

"How could you not tell me this, Sasuke?!" She screamed in the pain and remorse that she had to feel for him, because he certainly couldn't—no, wouldn't—feel it himself.

"As I've said, it needed to be done."

Her stomach turned once again at that thought. There was nothing more for her to say about it then, right? He just wanted her to forget and move on? It was at that very moment that for the first time in a long time, Sakura began to doubt his wanting her around for more than his clan.

Originally, she knew deep in her heart and at the back of her mind that he most likely was only using her to revive his clan. But there were also moments – moments when they made love or kissed or touched – that he seemed to care. But now? Now he was devoid. Now, he was so far away that she could barely see the man before her anymore. Now, he was too far out of her reach and finally the question had dawned on her to ask aloud.

"Do you care about anything **but** reviving your damn clan, Sasuke?!"

"Hn?" Her question clearly had thrown him off from any quick answer he generally could have mustered up any other time.

She trembled in pain, tears falling from her cheeks as he looked at her, all emotions and feelings masked from the world.

He faltered for a moment, his eyes in self-questioning that was failing miserably to be hidden from his now hysterical wife.

"Sakura, I—"

"No! Save it! I should have known that you never meant it when you said that you loved me!"

"Sakura, that's not—"

"I should have known you were using me like some cheap whore to revive your clan!"

"Sakura, will you just—"

"I should have known that you were just like _**him!**_ Face it, you're no better than Itachi was, Sasuke! You abandoned your village, you struggled to gain a strength that was always way too beyond your own reach, and you had slain an entire village! What the hell were you thinking, Sasuke?! Kami, you're just like—"

Before she could speak again of the elder Uchiha—whom she knew her husband had so dearly despised while all the while, loved to death (quite literally, in fact), she found herself pinned against the wall, her delicate, small wrists pinned by one of his larger hands above above her head.

She stood her ground however and didn't look at him with fear, reminding him that she wasn't the weak Sakura he detested. No, she was the Sakura he loved. And that's what kept him there.

His reality was changing so much in his mind as everything innocent and pure was soon to come to them both. He created not one, but two pure and innocent beings. His own flesh and blood.

Did he doubt that he loved Sakura? Never. Did he wish that he knew where the hell she got off comparing him to Itachi? Certainly. But he didn't care anymore about any of that. He didn't care about his honor or his tarnished pride. All that he cared about was the kunoichi that stood before him. All he could care about was the one place he could finally call home for the first time in what seemed like a lifetime.

For once, he understood something he hadn't been able to before. He and Naruto could relate more than he allowed himself to admit. Both had nobody in the world but their friends and teammates. Both were so desperate for love, only in two different ways.

Both wanted acceptance. Naruto wanted acceptance from Konoha while Sasuke had wanted it from Itachi. Both had gotten their wish. The only difference now was it was all gone. Naruto wasn't there to joke with him or to tease him—as much as he hated it. Naruto was a whole country away and thought Sasuke was dead.

On several occasions, Uchiha Sasuke had tried to murder not only Naruto, but the beautiful woman standing before him. For that, he would never forgive himself. Now, all he could do was try to make it up to her. But how could he when he kept doing things like this?

The darkness inside of him wanted to break her. The light that she beamed upon him was blinding but it was the only thing that kept him sane. Sakura made Sasuke's humanity to return, and now, it was hitting him full force.

* * *

Sakura just stood there, staring at the man whom she loved unconditionally. It pained her to see him struggling with his own mind; tortured her to no end to see the loss he had endured, and the fear that he could lose it all again.

"Sasuke-kun..?"

She snapped him away from his thoughts and he was thoroughly grateful.

"Sakura, listen. I love you. I really, really love you, okay? I'm madly fucking in love with you and I don't know what else I have to say for you to believe that and—"

She stood herself up onto her tippy toes, gently and almost hesitantly, pressing her soft, pink lips against his own. His eyes widened in surprise before closing tightly as he deepened the kiss.

Before he could think further, he found himself ravishing her mouth with his own, not entirely sure what had come over him at that moment. She had technically crossed the line, just as always, but at this point, she was to equally 'frustrated' to care. She knew what all of the recent irritation between her and Sasuke was now.

Truth be told, they hadn't had sex in over a month and were equally craving one another, temptation eating away at their subconscious and finally, they had snapped.

Soon, he was hoisting her shirt above her head, to which she willingly obliged, and did the same to him. It was strange seeing her so fully with the round of her belly so visible, in comparison to before, when it hadn't been so full.

In his opinion, she was beautiful, just as always. She wasn't too big in the pregnancy still and for that, she was grateful, because at the same time, her twin boys were both healthy and that was all that mattered.

She equally pulled his own shirt above his head and he gently ran his fingertips across her abdomen, feeling his twins kicking, he had become startled. Wait... they kicked? Sasuke raised an eyebrow at the violent lash of the abdomen.

"Did you... Did you two just kick me?"

He inched his face closer to her stomach and listened carefully, almost as if expecting a response from one of the unborn children.

Sakura looked quizzically at the sight before her and managed to stifle a laugh only due to the sincerity of his gaze at her, his three-tomoe sharingan spinning wildly as he stared at her stomach, both hands now sprawled across it.

"Sakura, did you feel that? These two are already showing signs of being sensational shinobi!"

"Of course I felt it, Sasuke-kun," she rolled her eyes at his childlike expression, "have you forgotten who these two are inside of?"

He ignored her last question and put his ear up against her stomach.

**

* * *

**

Kick.

**Kick.**

Sasuke jumped and Sakura could no longer contain her laughter. She doubled over laughing hysterical at the very site before her. Uchiha Sasuke was so serious about the twins kicking him, that he went as far as activating the sharingan?

"What's so funny?" The Uchiha asked, staring at his wife whom was on the brink of tears from laughter.

"Oh. My. Kami! You're so—And it's—I can't—I'm sorry, it's—"

Before she could attempt (and fail) to form a complete sentence, she broke out into more laughter. He frowned a bit at her ridiculing him—himself finding the entire situation to be extremely fascinating—and huffed at her in annoyance.

She wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him towards her in a tight hug.

"Thank you, Sasuke-kun."

"Huh? For what?"

"Being here."

He smiled a bit kissing his wife on the forehead before handing her the discarded top. They may not be having sex tonight – or until the child is born, with Sasuke's newly found paranoia and fascination with his twins' new "game" – and he put his own shirt on as well. He leaned in and kissed her chastely on the lips and whispered "I love you, Sakura", to which she responded simply "I love you too, Sasuke-kun."

**

* * *

**

**A/N: **Oh geez, for some reason, this seemed more like something Itachi would say, no? I don't know, could just be me. Hehehe. Lemme know what you guys think =D


	7. Special Delivery

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Naruto.

**

* * *

**

[Konohagakure]

On a bright, sunny day, Aburame Shino and Hyuuga Hinata are seen sitting together at the Konohagakure Training Grounds. Hinata's pointer finger is raised up by her nose as she stares in wonder at one of Shino's tiny Kikaichu bugs, which was crawling across her finger.

Ever since Kurenai's resignation from being a shinobi to attend her motherly duties; and Kiba and Akamaru joining the ANBU Black Ops, the two young jounin often times paired off together for missions.

Today, however, things were moving so much slower as far as work was concerned. They had the entire day off and decided to meet up in the park together. Neither has spoken much since they got there but the silence was mutually comfortable.

Shino looks at Hinata as she stares at the Kikaichu bug, which has now flown from her finger to resume it's home in Shino's sleeve.

Hinata let out a long, bored sigh and looked up from her spot on the ground to see a masked man stalking towards her, his long, brown hair blowing gently in the wind. He removes his mask and Hinata looks at him in confusion.

"Neji-nii-san? What are you doing here?"

Neji was pale and looked as though he'd just seen a ghost. He was out of breath and she could tell that something was seriously wrong.

"Neji?"

"Lady Hinata," he paused panting heavily, "we need to go somewhere and talk privately," again, he paused trying to catch his breath, "it's a clan matter."

Hinata nodded her head hesitantly and stood up.

"Shino-kun... I'll talk to you later, alright?"

Said man nodded his head, his expression never changing. Hinata and Neji walked over to another training ground to talk, when Neji finally looked at her.

"Have you spoken with Hiashi today?"

Hinata furrowed her eyebrows in confusion.

"No, I haven't been home all day. Why?"

"He's stepping down as head of the Hyuuga clan."

Hinata's eyes widened a fraction in surprise. "Wait so that means... I'm..."

"Hinata... He's arranged a marriage as terms of you gaining rule over the clan..."

"What?!" Hinata screamed, much to both her and Neji's surprise before her voice lowered again.

"To who?"

"Me."

**

* * *

**

[Mist]

The date is July 30th and a very pregnant, disgruntled, and overdue pink-haired kunoichi walked about her home impatiently awaiting on her twin boys – whom were due to be born almost a whole week ago – to decide that they were ready to be born.

"Damn stubborn Uchiha's," she mumbled, "they're all the same, I swear! They never do anything that they're supposed to unless it's absolutely convenient for them," she finished.

Her raven-haired husband—whom is seemingly maintaining his composure rather well, despite his mutual impatience of the birth of his twin boys—looks up at his wife, watching her pace back and forth before him, her hand on the small of her back and her swollen stomach visible through her over-sized t-shirt.

He tried his best to seem as if he hadn't heard her retort, though he failed to suppress raising his eyebrow at her in wonder as to whether or not her statement was to be a slam at him personally or not. He sighed, realizing that there was a 99% chance that it indeed was.

Finally, after pacing a total of 72 times back and forth (from what Sasuke had managed to count), Sakura had given up and thrown her hands up in frustration.

"You're both just like your father! Stubborn as hell and refusing to give in for once in your entire lives!" Sakura shouted, looking down at her stomach.

Sasuke's eyebrow raised again. "Is that an insult or a compliment?"

Sasuke's only response was Sakura hurling a fairly thick book towards his head, to which he barely managed to dodge.

"What the hell do you think it is, Sasuke?! Look at me! I'm pregnant, fat, my ankles are swollen—or at least, I think they are—though I really couldn't tell because I haven't been able to see my feet in months because of my enormous stomach blocking my view! I'm cranky, moody, irritable – and if you say one thing about my hormones being imbalanced, so help me kami, I will castrate you!"

Sasuke inwardly gulped, having no doubt in his mind that his frustrated wife would in fact "destroy his manhood", so to speak.

Sakura ran a hand through her hair before walking off towards the bedroom. Sasuke waits to hear the sound of the door shutting but it never did. Instead, he heard a loud, thankful voice shouting to the high heavens in rejoice.

"Oh thank kami! My water broke! Ow!!"

And so, it begins...

**

* * *

**

**[Konohagakure]**

A blonde, extremely overdue Nara Ino slouched down on the couch in her living room poking lazily at her swollen stomach.

Shikamaru, whom was sitting in a chair opposite of her, stared at her with little amusement. They were due over two weeks ago and Shikamaru was beyond anxious for his son to be born, as well as his wife Ino.

"He's not going to come any faster if you keep poking him, Ino." Shikamaru retorted lazily. Ino glared at him.

"It's worth a shot! Dammit Shika, I feel like it's _**never**_ going to come out!"

"Troublesome woman," he mumbled before speaking in a more clear tone, "Ino, you're only two weeks late, and you heard what the doctor said—"

"Oh, to hell with what the doctor said! I want this thing out of me now, dammit!" Ino retorted before slapping his shoulder rather hard.

"What the hell was that for, Ino?!" Shikamaru said standing up and glaring down at his wife—whom was truly testing the last bits of his patience. Ino stood up as well—albeit, slower and with more effort—staring him in the face, balling her fists.

"Because your a stupid, lazy, and inconsiderate—"

Before Ino could finish her sentence, she felt her water break before letting out a long sigh.

"Shikamaru! My water just broke! You're a genius!"

His eye twitched in response before he let out a sigh of relief.

"Let's get you to the hospital then, huh?"

Ino grinned triumphantly in and nodded response.

**

* * *

**

[Mist]

Sasuke is seen running down his driveway alone, his destination being the hospital at the center of town. Meanwhile, Sakura sits down on the living room floor, waiting for her husband to return with her midwife.

Frantically, he rushes into the hospital and runs towards the front desk, panting heavily.

"My wife... is in labor... Need... Midwife..."

Yurichi stared at him for a moment in surprise before standing.

"Well, I am the hospital's only available midwife, where is she?"

"Our house. C'mon!" He yelled, pulling the woman's hand towards the hospital door.

"Doctor! I've got an emergency," Yurichi yelled as she is being pulled from the door.

The doctor, whom was several rooms away, shouted back in response. "Alright, I'll be here, Yurichi-san. Take your time!"

And with that said, the two were gone, both headed towards the driveway of the compound. Sasuke frantically unlocked the front door, to see Sakura sitting on the floor, her head pressed against the cushion of the couch. Her forehead was covered in a thin layer of sweat and she was panting heavily holding her stomach.

"Yurichi-san," Sakura groaned, "help! Kami this hurts!"

Yurichi rushed to Sakura's side and took her hand, guiding her to lay back on a pillow that she had taken off of the couch.

"Alright, Sakura. I'm here. Uchiha-sama, please – I need lots of towels and some hot water."

Sasuke nodded and walked off to fetch the required items.

"Okay Sakura, you're doing fine. Remember, breathe in," Sakura took a deep breath in through her nose, "and breathe out," Sakura released her deep breath through her mouth, before repeating the notion.

**

* * *

**

[Konohagakure]

"Shikamaru! You baka! Get your ass back in here, now!" Ino screamed from her hospital room.

Her husband, whom was outside of her room pacing back and forth, ran inside to his wife's bedside. Her legs were hoisted up in two gurneys, and she was now wearing a hospital gown.

"Mrs. Nara," a black-haired nurse said softly, "I need you to push for me."

Ino sat up on her elbows and looked down over her stomach at said nurse.

"Dammit, I've _**been**_ pushing since my water broke!"

The nurse looked up at the glaring kunoichi slightly fearfully, before regaining her calm demeanor and softly speaking again.

"Okay, good. Just keep pushing as hard as you can. The baby's doing great and you're contractions are coming closer and closer together, so the baby should be here soon. I'm going to go get Tsunade-sama! I'll be right back!"

"Hai," Ino responded as she relaxed a bit, trying her best to be kind to the nurse whom was simply trying to help her through this, despite the agony Ino was in.

"Thank you." Ino softly said before closing her eyes to rest before her contractions started back up again.

**

* * *

**

[Mist]

Sasuke ran back into the living room carrying several towels, and a large bowl of warm water. Yurichi took a smaller towel and dipped it into the bowl before wringing it out as tightly as she could, and dabbing it lightly across Sakura's forehead. Yurichi looked up at Sasuke, silently asking him why he was still standing there, and he took that as his cue to leave. Sasuke stepped outside and sat on his front porch, impatiently waiting for the labor to be over.

Sasuke looked up from his seat to see an older gentlemen whom he vividly recalled from his childhood, as well as a teenage boy appearing to be about 14 approaching him.

The older gentlemen waved at Sasuke, whom looked back at him strangely, not immediately recognizing him.

"Hello there! Remember me? You and your teammates escorted me to continue building the Great Naruto Bridge."

Sasuke's eyes widened for a moment. "Tazuna-san?"

The old man grinned widely. "Hai, and this is my grandson Inari."

Sasuke looked up amazed at how tall the young man—whom he hadn't seen since he was a small child—had grown.

"Hai. I remember you. What are you two doing here?"

Tazuna opened his mouth to respond, but his words were cut off abruptly by a woman's loud screams coming from the inside. Sasuke paled at the sound of his wife's screams of agony, as Tazuna simply gave him a knowing nod before sitting beside him, his grandson Inari following in suit.

"First?" Tazuna asked, his smile never wavering.

"Hai. Twins." Sasuke responded softly.

"Ah... To that pink-haired teammate of yours? She really was quite fond of you if memory serves me correctly."

Sasuke looked at the man curiously at his last statement, barely recalling his mission during his days spent as a Genin.

"Hai. She really was quite fond of you, even back then. When we thought you were a goner, I thought she would have just curled up and died right there beside you."

Sasuke sat there silently, before his face flinched at Sakura's loud screams.

**

* * *

**

[Konohagakure]

"Push, Ino! Push!" Tsunade yelled from her position between Ino's legs.

Ino was weeping heavily in pain now and Shikamaru had yet again, been thrown out of the hospital room – this time, more permanently.

Shikamaru paced back and forth outside of the hospital room, running his fingers through his ponytail. He finally sits down on a chair before noticing a tall figure advancing towards him, his hands in his pockets.

"How you holding up there, kiddo?" Shikamaru looked up at his father, Shikaku, whom sat down beside his son.

"Ino's finally in labor... Oh man, what a drag..."

Shikaku let out a soft, knowing chuckle. "Indeed."

A comfortable silence fell between father and son as Ino's loud screams could be heard echoing throughout the hospital halls.

**

* * *

**

[Mist]

Inside of the Uchiha residence, three women are inside of the living room during Sakura's delivery. Yurichi, Sakura's midwife, is seated near Sakura's feet. Yoko – Yurichi's young apprentice – was sitting at Sakura's side, gently dabbing a cloth across Sakura's brow whilst observing Yurichi's actions carefully. Sakura was laying down on her back on the living room floor. Her back was being propped up with two pillows and she was covered in a thin sheet.

Yurichi sent Sasuke after Yoko shortly after arriving at the Uchiha residence, as well as a long list of supplies that she would be needing Yoko to bring her, which included a hospital gown, several hospital sheets, latex gloves, and a medical kit full of many different medical supplies.

"Okay Sakura, you can do this! C'mon, I need you to give me another big push!" Yurichi sternly commanded from her position sitting on her knees in front of Sakura, her hands both placed over Sakura's stomach baring down on her.

Sakura nodded before leaning her head towards her knees, pushing with all of her might to birth the two twins, whom were proving to be quite a challenge.

**

* * *

**

[Konohagakure]

"Come on, Ino," Tsunade commanded, her tone serious, "I need you to keep pushing!"

Ino laid her head back on the pillow of her hospital bed in exhaustion, having been in labor the last three hours now.

Her contractions were very spread apart and Tsunade informed Ino when she arrived at the hospital that the birth could take awhile, but Ino was far too anxious about getting the delivery over with, stating that she was far too overdue and couldn't stand being pregnant any longer.

Eventually, Tsunade complied and agreed to induce the labor, and for the last three hours, Ino had been desperately attempting to obey Tsunade's constant commands for her to "push".

Ino's body was covered in a tin layer of sweat as she arched her back, finally rested enough to give another push as she leaned forward and tightened her grip on Shizune's hand.

Shizune focused some of her healing chakra into her hand to prevent any breaks which were bound to arise eventually from Ino's death grip on the small appendage.

**

* * *

**

[Mist]

"Come on, Sakura! You can do this, push!" Yurichi said, looking at her apprentice sympathetically as the kunoichi held her hand as tightly as she could, a strength firm enough to rival that aided by her chakra-infused fists.

"Ugh! I am pushing, dammit! Where the _**hell**_ is that bastard Sasuke?! I swear to kami that I am done having kids!"

Said man raises an eyebrow at a chuckling Tazuna and a wide-eyed Inari before shaking his head and laying down on the porch with his hands behind his head, waiting patiently and trying to drown out Sakura's scream—and insults, now.

"Sakura," Yurichi exclaimed, "the first baby is crowning! I need you to give me another big push! Come on, we've almost got one out!"

Sakura replied with a loud groan, again leaning her head towards her knees and squeezing her eyes tightly shut.

"Great job Sakura, you're doing fine! Just give me one more push and have have the first child here.

Sakura gritted her teeth in pain, groaning loudly before giving that final push as Yurichi cut's the baby's umbilical cord, wrapping him in a towel and handing him to Sakura.

"Mr. Uchiha, you may come in to see your son," Yurichi exclaimed smiling brightly while wiping her arm across her sweating forehead. Sasuke hesitantly opened the door of his home to see Sakura holding their first born. He couldn't see what the child looked like as he was covered up in a blanket, so he walked forward, his eyes fixated on Sakura and the little bundle in her arms.

Finally, he got to see his son. The child had coal black hair and bright green eyes. He looked like Sasuke entirely, minus the eyes, of course.

Sakura looked up at Sasuke tiredly before smiling.

"Want to hold him?"

Sasuke nodded as she placed the child in his arms, making sure that he supported the head properly. Sasuke looked down at his son before brushing the pad of his thumb across the child's stomach. The baby responded by gripping his finger tightly, causing Sasuke to chuckle aloud.

"I take it you're the one who kicked me?"

The child looked up at him cooing as he stared at Sasuke with wonder.

Sasuke let out a small chuckle, "Well... That's okay... I don't mind it... You're going to be strong when you're bigger, I can tell."

Sakura giggled aloud but otherwise, said nothing else as she laid there smiling and watching Sasuke with mild amusement before she felt the second baby ready to enter the world as well. The pain caused Sakura to let out a loud groan.

Sasuke looked over at Sakura and Yurichi shooed him out of the room, and ushered him to follow Yoko into the bathroom so that they could finish cleaning and dressing the child.

**

* * *

**

[Konohagakure]

"Come on, Ino! Push!" A frustrated Tsunade commanded to Ino, whom was actually making an effort to do as told, despite Tsunade's belief.

"Dammit, I **_am_** pushing! This isn't easy, you know!"

Tsunade raised an eyebrow at the blonde, before shaking her head and looking at Shizune – whom was running low on chakra from all of the healing she had to do due to Ino's grip on her hand.

"Shizune! Let go of Ino's hand and bare down on her, the baby is stuck."

"What?! What do you **_MEAN_** she's **_STUCK_**?! Kami! Is my baby going to be okay?!"

Shikamaru's head darted up from the four chairs he was laying across in the hallway, his eyes widening in horror. His father looked at him, just as shocked and now worried about this.

Tsunade let out an aggravated sigh before explaining.

"Ino, you're baby is upside down and is going to have to be born breech... and as soon as possible. This is a very complicated issue... If we don't get her out of there soon, there is a great chance she could die, as well as you."

Shikamaru ran towards the door before his father could even flinch, but found himself caught in his family's shadow possession jutsu.

"Dammit, dad! Let me go," Shikamaru's voice became hoarse, "Ino's going to... the baby...they need—"

"They **need** you to be patient. Trust me son, everything is going to be okay, now sit down." He said before releasing the jutsu on his son, whom seemed to have reached his senses.

"Mendokusai..." Shikaku mumbled under his breath as his son sat back down on the chair beside him.

"Ya know, your mother delivered you breech, Shikamaru." His father smiled reassuringly.

"She did?"

"Yup. Scared me to death too. It took three Nara clansmen to hold me back, without the jutsu. I almost killed your grandfather trying to break free." He chuckled. "Then I heard you cry and knew that everything was fine. Finally, the doctor's told me I could come in and I refused to leave after."

"I never knew..."

"Eh... It's not exactly a moment of composure loss that I'm proud of. But now you know."

"Arigato... Hey dad?"

"Hm?"

"I'm scared... I mean for once in my entire life, I honestly don't know what to do..."

Shikaku let out a sigh before placing his hand comfortingly on his son's shoulder.

"I know son, I know. Everything will work out in the end though, trust me."

**

* * *

**

[Mist]

"Push, push, push, push, push! C'mon Sakura, almost! There we go! There we go!!"

Sakura let out a painful shriek before collapsing onto her back, Yurichi cutting the umbilical cord and wrapping the second baby up in a towel, before handing him to a very exhausted Sakura.

**

* * *

**

[Konohagakure]

"Oh my Kami! I can't do this! I can't Tsunade, I can't—"

"Oh yes you can, Ino and you **will**! Now come on, we're almost there, I just need one more push, I can see her feet!"

"ARGHHHHHHHHH!"

Ino let out a loud scream before falling onto her back, the sounds of a baby girl crying echoing the room.

"Shika...Mar...u..." Ino weakly yelled, but was unheard, so she tried again, "Shikamaru!"

Said man ran into the hospital room to see an exhausted Ino holding his newborn baby girl with pale blonde hair and charcoal eyes.

He let out a long sigh of relief as he ran to her bedside, Shikaku standing in the doorway smirking at Tsunade whom was scowling from exhaustion.

**

* * *

**

[Mist]

Sasuke walked back into the room carrying his first born son to see his second being cradled in his wife's arms affectionately.

Sakura was breast feeding the newborn when she looked up at her oldest son, and began to speak. "He's probably hungry. Here, trade me." She said, the second child now sleeping soundly in her arms.

He held his second son while sitting next to Sakura. Suddenly, Yurichi spoke to them both.

"Any ideas on what to name them?"

Sasuke looked down at his second born son.

"Akiro, for this one."

Sakura also looked down at the baby in her arms, thinking deeply.

"Well, they're twins so their names have to sound similar at least. How about... Akira?"

"Hn." Sasuke nodded his head in agreement, his long black eyelashes closing as he cradled his sleeping son in his arms lovingly.

**

* * *

**

[Konohagakure]

"Any ideas on a name?" Tsunade asked the blonde whom simply glanced at her husband in silent questioning.

He knew exactly what Ino wanted to name their daughter, but was still flattered that she cared to ensure that he was happy with it. Thus, he nodded his head in agreement.

"Sakura. I want to name her Sakura... in honor of Forehead's memory..." Ino responded, her eyes filling with tears.

Tsunade nodded before walking out of the room to head back to the Hokage tower.

**

* * *

**

**A/N: **Oh my god, I am soooo sorry that took so long! I got writers block for a day or so o.O But all is well again, I assure you =D R&R, hope you enjoyed. (10 pages btw)


	8. Broken Bonds

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Naruto.

* * *

**A/N: **I haven't put a key up in previous chapters but this one is going to have a few different symbols, so to speak, that may confuse you, so here they are:

~~~ Located in the Center Indicates Cut Scenes (During Flashbacks)  
_**Indicates Characters Inner thoughts.  
**_Indicates Regular text.  
**[Indicates Titles/Locations]  
**_Indicates Regular Flashback text  
_**Indicates Keywords**

**

* * *

**

[Four Months Later...]

**[Konohagakure]**

Inside of Tsunade's office sat the four remnants of the former Team 7—Kakashi, Yamato, Sai, and Naruto. The four men had been called to the hokage's office on urgent notice, but they had absolutely no idea why. When they all arrived there, Tsunade was nowhere in sight, so there they were – sitting back and waiting for her to return.

They all knew full and well that the hokage had certainly been extremely on the edge of her limited patience the last several weeks, due to the surrounding countries and villages which have been making threats to begin a war with Konoha unless the hokage agrees to certain "terms" pertaining to a so-called "peace agreement", which definitely was not fooling her.

She knew that any treaty that the villages made among one another weren't any more important than the paper that they were written on. If she were to agree with the terms, it would jeopardize the village's safety greatly if the villages caved on their ends of the bargain and retaliated.

A coup d'état led by Sound shinobi has been recently coming to Tsunade's attention, as well as rumors going around about Sound planning an attack on Konoha. Tsunade hadn't slept in days, trying to sort the entire mess out.

The last thing that the Fire Country needed was another Ninja War, especially one that could rival the Third Ninja War. Sound was powerful now, and she was fully aware of it. She also had become aware that once Orochimaru's reign had fallen, some new low-key shinobi had taken over as the kage of the village.

* * *

The door to the hokage's office was slammed open by the rough kick of an irritable, tired, cranky, and stressed out kunoichi.

She was carrying a stack of documents and scrolls at least two feet high. She dropped the large pile on her desk before plopping down into her chair, her hair unkempt and frazzled, and her eyes heavy with exhaustion.

"Good, you're all here. I'm sure all of you are aware that Konoha is dramatically short on allies at the moment with villages both in surrounding countries and quite a few right here in the Fire Country," she paused as everyone nodded their heads attentively in silence.

"It's taken me the whole night, but I finally finished writing up this," she held up an ordinary sized scroll, "which you all will be delivering personally. This mission will be an A-Ranked one and there shouldn't be too many complications during your travels. It's out of the Fire's territory, so things may become tricky for you. The mission is simple – protect the scroll, don't allow anyone to read it's contents, be careful, and try not to draw too much attention to yourselves."

Naruto spoke up.

"What's so important about that scroll, Tsunade-baa-chan?"

"It's a peace treaty for the Kirigakure Mizukage, requesting Mist to become allies with Konohagakure."

Naruto simply nodded in understanding, as she continued.

"You have two weeks to return. You are dismissed." Tsunade ordered with a swat of her hand ushering them out of the door, her eyes glaring down focused intensely at the menacing, unsigned documents before her.

"This is going to be a long day..."

* * *

The four shinobi wasted no time before heading towards the Konohagakure gates, ready to depart for their mission. Nobody said a word among one another, but rather remained deep in their own thoughts.

"_**So, we're going back to Mist, eh? Man, it's been awhile. What is it... five... six years since I've been there? Hm... I wonder if Tazuna-sama, Tsunami, and Inari are still there?" **_

Naruto silently wondered to himself.

"_**I hope they are... I did promise to come visit them after the last time but haven't had the opportunity to do a mission there ever since,"**_ he paused looking at the ground, his pace never faltering, **_"since Sakura-chan and teme were,"_** he paused again, blinking his eyes fervently to avoid the tears that were fighting their way to the surface of his soft blue eyes. He shook his head furiously and continued swiftly hopping through the treetops with his three teammates.

Kakashi watched Naruto from the corner of his visible eye and his gaze softened sympathetically. He knew that Naruto was thinking about Sasuke and Sakura just from looking at his expression.

Naruto's feelings were so easy to read, Kakashi almost thought it ridiculous, before remembering that Naruto was Naruto. His feelings were what gave him the will to keep fighting, and the ability to be such a great shinobi.

He'd watched his student grow from a clownish child to a man, and was proud of all that Naruto had gained growing up. All of his vying for attention, extensive training and effort, and strength had truly helped him accomplish greatness and gain genuine acceptance, including that from Kakashi.

Naruto stared sternly ahead, his blue eyes dimmer lately than usual and his face etched with an endless sadness that Kakashi had known too well. When Obito and Rin died, their deaths were spread apart in time. However, Sakura and Sasuke died together... He couldn't even begin to imagine what Naruto was going through.

He'd taken it extremely hard, barely showing any effort to even leave his house, let alone train or go on missions. And he always came up with the same excuses, generally involving him "not feeling well" or "just simply not being up to it". At least the latter was more believable.

The four continued their steady paces towards Fire's border leading to a shipping port that they would depart from by ship towards Wave Country.

Ever since the shipping port had been built, it became so much easier for traveling to Kiri other than on foot. They hadn't been able to during the last mission in Mist and this time, Kakashi was grateful that they wouldn't have to exhaust themselves for their trip.

Naruto stared ahead at the trees.

**"_Sakura-chan...Teme..." _**

In his eyes, despair and loneliness remained glazed over. Naruto was so lost without the two, especially his long-time crush, Sakura. He couldn't deny that what he had felt for her was love, and that love hurt him even more so now that she was gone forever.

* * *

"_Naruto?" _

* * *

His memory echoed Sakura's voice back hauntingly in his head.

* * *

"_Naruto, what are you doing?" _

* * *

His gaze hardened remembering her voice.

* * *

"_Naruto, are you okay?" _

* * *

The thoughts were just bits and fragments but they were enough. He missed her soft voice – hell, he missed everything about her.

"_**No... Sakura-chan... Kami, I miss you so much..."**_

He inwardly cringed to himself. He remembered quite vividly the day that Sakura had asked him those two questions.

_**

* * *

**_

[Flashback]

"_Naruto? Naruto, are you okay?" _

_A bright-eyed, 15-year-old Sakura looked to her friend speaking with a concerned tone in her voice._

"_Of course, Sakura-chan! Dattebayo! Why do you ask?"_

"_You were staring at me."_

_His face turned a pale pink._

"_Erm... Uhh, sorry Sakura-chan, I didn't—"_

"_No, no! It's fine. I was just wondering if you were okay."_

"_Yup! I'm fine. You're just so beautiful, Sakura-chan! I couldn't help it!"_

_Sakura giggled softly before brushing her fingertips across his whisker-like cheeks. _

"_Arigato, Naruto-kun. You're pretty handsome yourself."_

_Naruto flashed her one of his signature foxy grins and she returned the smile._

_"Arigato, Sakura-chan!" Naruto thanked her with a blush._

**

* * *

**

"_Sakura-chan, why...?"_

That inner question held a lot of different meanings.

_Why did she have to go?  
__Why didn't they ever get together?  
__Why did this have to happen?  
__Why couldn't she love him back the same? _

But that last one was more of a question of **did **she ever even love him in the same the way that he loved her at all? Now, he'd never know the answer to that question. With that thought in mind, his features hardened further. Kakashi let out a silent sigh behind his mask.

Naruto looked so lost anymore and there wasn't anything that anyone could seem to do to pull him out of this endless time warp of pain that he was reliving all over again. The loneliness, not fitting in with anyone, distancing himself from the village... It was all coming back... just like during his childhood before Team 7 ever came to be.

Kakashi noticed Naruto standing behind the crowds even before he had become his sensei all of those years ago. But then again, how **couldn't** he notice? Naruto's father was Kakashi's former sensei and friend, after all.

He felt it was his duty to watch Naruto, even if he never actually struck up a conversation with him. But then again, Kakashi wasn't one to necessarily go out of his way to meet someone he didn't know just for the sake of it. Now, Kakashi regrets that. Iruka saw Naruto back then and Kakashi was thankful that Naruto at least had someone there to care for.

**

* * *

**

[Mist]

Changing diapers, being up at odd hours of the night, daily feedings... It was really taking it's toll on both Sakura and Sasuke. Having and caring for one child is one thing, but twins as their first born(s) were certainly a hassle, especially with their lack of experience in childcare.

Sakura had finally taken the hint at what Sasuke was aiming for and officially retired as a shinobi to be a full-time mom. She still cared deeply about taking care of her body and set to working out and getting back into shape as soon as she was fully recuperated from having Akiro and Akira.

Her baby bump was slowly but surely disappearing and for that she was ever grateful. Overall, life was good. She had everything she had dreamed of growing up – Sasuke. For her, that was everything. Even so, she still felt so... out of place in Mist.

She missed everyone in Konoha and it was becoming more and more obvious to Sasuke by each passing day. He never spoke up on it though, not wanting to surface any further homesickness from his wife and tried his best to ignore it. He knew she wanted to go back but it couldn't be done ever. Konoha ordered the murder of his entire clan.

He couldn't take his children to a place that could lead to their slaughter. And he fiercely refused to watch anyone he loved die again. The last time had been Itachi, and after that he vowed to never allow it again.

He was hell-bent on his revenge at the time, yes, but he still mourned the loss of his nii-san, remembering him as the "good big brother" that he had known as a child, just as Madara had told him to.

Sakura had just laid the twins down for their midday nap in Akiro's crib, which they both shared. In fact, Akiro wouldn't sleep in his own crib unless Akira was in there with him. The two were inseparable and often times would cling together in the crib, cuddling in their sleep.

Sakura smiled at the thought of the first time she'd come across her sight of her two baby boys fast asleep huddled close together in an almost-protective hug, clinging to one another fiercely as if to never let the other go.

* * *

Finally, she shut the door and was met face to face with onyx eyes pushing her against the wall outside of the nursery.

"Sasuke-kun? What are you—mmph!"

Sasuke pressed his lips tightly up against Sakura's pale pink lips as she wrapped her arms instinctively around his neck, pulling him tighter towards her.

In turn, he picked her up and she wrapped her legs around his waist, still only slightly aware of what was going on. He carried her into their bedroom and quietly shut the door with his foot.

Sasuke gently laid Sakura on the bed, his body following hers as he pinned her down beneath him. His hands darted below the waistline of her pants and slowly began inching closer towards her burning hot sex.

That's when she felt pressure on her most intimate area of her body as she felt two fingers roughly thrust inside of her, emitting a loud moan to **almost** escape her lips. That is, before Sasuke covered her mouth with his own to keep her cries silenced.

He kept his fingers inside of her, but pulled away from the kiss to whisper for her to try not to wake up the twins. She nodded her head in agreement and then felt him moving his fingers within her, slowly thrusting them in and out of her.

Her breathing hitched, and she began panting, occasionally biting her bottom lip to stifle her moans every time he would thrust his fingers faster inside of her.

Finally, unable to stand the torment of her writhing beneath him and grinding herself against his hardening member, Sasuke pulled down on Sakura's long, black jogging pants, her baby blue panties following in suit.

He removed his fingers from within Sakura's core—much to her displeasure—before replacing them with something else. She looked down at him as he moved his entire body, crawling down towards the edge of the bed.

"Sasuke-kun...? What are you—ah! Mmph!"

She had to put her small hand over her mouth quickly and roughly as he dove face first towards her wet, slippery folds, his tongue gently lapping at the juices as they flowed from her body.

They didn't do much oral during sex so this was all still new territory for her. She couldn't help but feel embarrassed, though it was short-lived once she felt two of his long digits enter her, his mouth never leaving her.

Sakura arched her back up towards the ceiling like a spooked cat, her breaths coming out in shaky pants and gasps as Sasuke continued pleasuring her most intimate area.

Suddenly, before she could even respond, she felt him pressing the tip of his hardened member at her entrance before thrusting into her roughly and mercilessly.

She bit down on her index finger, barely stifling the pleasureful scream that emitted from his actions. He continued thrusting himself in and out of her roughly, her entire body quaking in constant waves of pleasure.

Running on pure animal instinct, Sasuke continued thrusting himself roughly in and out of Sakura. While still thrusting, he roughly pulled her shirt up over her head, to which she did the same to his own. He ripped her bra quickly from her fairly large breasts emitting a irritated gasp from his wife, though he ignored it.

He began rubbing her right breast, while firmly taking the left in his mouth. His lower body still pounding roughly in and out of Sakura, he gently began sucking on the pale mound, occasionally biting down on her nipple. Sakura responded by moaning and arching her back towards the sky, only further encouraging him to go harder. And he did.

Soon, Sakura was borderline-climax, as was Sasuke, this thrusting increasing to a steady, rough, and quick pace. It wasn't long until Sakura began to clench the covers beneath her while biting her lip roughly stifling her moans as she climaxed.

At the feel of Sakura's inner walls clenching upon his hardened member, Sasuke's orgasm followed immediately after. Once the two spouses came down from their high, they just laid in bed silently trying to regain their breath.

Throughout their entire lovemaking, the twins never stirred. The two were rather deep sleepers—that, or they were good at pretending to be.

She looked over at him with her big, green eyes.

"Feel better?" She rolled her eyes playfully.

"Hn."

"Sasuke-kun, are you okay?"

Sasuke sat upwards, feeling uneasy, as he ran a finger through his spiky, black hair. He looked out the window cautiously, looking around his home to make sure that there was no one around. There wasn't a soul in sight, the only thing being visible were the bare trees, all surrounded with yellow and orange leaves. November was passing rather quickly this year and it had been more chilly this year than he was used to.

Finally relaxing a bit, Sasuke answered her question.

"I'm fine," he mumbled before speaking more clearly, though more inwardly to himself.

"I'm just being paranoid..."

Sakura furrowed her eyebrows at her husband, before he turned around to face her. Staring at her face etched with worry, his features softened a bit as he laid back on the bed pulling Sakura towards him with a protective arm. Sakura rested her head against his muscular chest and listened to his heart beat before closing her eyes falling asleep. Sasuke also fell asleep, suddenly feeling at total peace and relaxation.

**

* * *

**

[The Border of Fire Country: The Shipping Port]

"Well, come on everybody," Yamato said eying over the group of shinobi before directing them to follow his lead onto a large ship, "Mist awaits us."

Naruto, Sai, and Kakashi all followed Yamato's lead onto the large ship, which was docked at the port awaiting it's passengers.

"Excuse me," Yamato asked an older looking gentlemen whom was standing at the shipyard wearing a captains uniform. The man in question gave him a quick nod of his head, indicating his attention and Yamato continued to speak, "is this the ship to Kirigakure?"

The ship captain nodded his head in agreement, "Hai, this ship leads to and from Kirigakure every day at 9 AM, 1 PM, 5 PM, and 9PM."

"How much is traveling expenses?" Yamato asked while pulling out some spending money for traveling expenses which the Hokage provided for all of these far away missions.

"How many?"

Yamato looked back at the group and then back at the captain before responding, "Four."

"That'll be 30,000 ryo."

Yamato nodded and paid the traveling fee for the four of them. Not long after, the ship set sail to Kirigakure.

After they stepped off of the ship, Naruto began walking in a particular direction. Kakashi knew exactly where he was headed and ushered Sai and Yamato to follow him.

**

* * *

**

[Tazuna's House, Mist]

"N-Naruto? Is that you?" Inari asked from his place in his back yard.

"Inari?"

"Hai..."

"Inari! How are you doing?! Oh man, it's been forever," the two hugged – or rather, Naruto hugged and Inari got squeezed.

"I'm good, Naruto-kun. I'm a shinobi now, just like you."

"That's awesome! What rank are you?"

"Chuunin."

"Really? That's great! Congratulations!"

"Arigato... Naruto, who are these people with you?"

"Oh them? Well, you remember Kaka-sensei, right?"

Inari nodded his head in agreement.

"Well, that's him, and those other two are Sai and Yamato," Naruto pointed to the two men as he said their name.

"Yo." Kakashi waved in greeting as he peeked over his Icha Icha novel, which he had read one time too many.

Tazuna stepped outside of his house with a surprised expression on his face.

"Wow, Naruto? Is that you?"

"Tazuna-sama!"

Naruto flashed him a foxy grin.

"Well isn't this quite the surprise? I mean first I see your other two teammates, and now you guys as well? What a treat."

Naruto paused, thinking he misheard Tazuna's last statement.

"E-Excuse me? What do you mean you've—"

Already knowing what Naruto was asking, Tazuna cut him off in response, "Sakura and Sasuke, wasn't it? Yeah, I ran into them a few months back."

Naruto froze in disbelief. Unable to speak, Kakashi asked the question lingering on Naruto's—as well as everyone else's—mind.

"What do you mean that you seen Sakura and Sasuke? Sure you've had to been mistaken as that is impossible."

"Nope. 'Certainly was them. I ran into Sasuke one day at his house. Sakura was inside with the midwife and... well, you can probably guess what happens from them..."

"You what?! When?!" A furious Naruto finally screamed loud enough that all of Kirigakure may have heard him. Fed up with what he believed were vicious lies or a cruel prank from Tazuna, Naruto had finally lost control of his words.

Naruto couldn't believe his hears, and refused to.

"That's impossible! Sakura-chan and teme have... They were... I..." Naruto choked back tears before running towards Tazuna, his fists raised.

"He's **lying**! Sakura-chan and teme are **dead**, so cut the crap! This isn't fucking funny, old man!"

Naruto's eyes filled with sorrow as Kakashi and Yamato desperately tried to restrain the Jinchuuriki from losing his composure and attacking the elder gentlemen.

"Tazuna-san," Sai calmly spoke, "would you mind showing us where you seen Uchiha?"

"Of course not. I'll show you right now, come on."

Naruto hesitantly followed the group towards their destination. The five men—not counting Inari, who stayed at home—walked off of Tazuna's porch and headed towards the middle of town. Pointing ahead to a compound in the center of a wooded clearing, Tazuna spoke again.

"That's the place. Gomenaisai, but I have to be going now actually. I had errands to run prior to your visit. It was really nice seeing you again." Tazuna said softly with a small smile before heading back towards the center of town with his hands in his pockets.

Hiding themselves in a group of surrounding trees, the four men masked their chakra heavily and stared at the house, not seeing anything seemingly suspicious. That is, until Naruto watched a flash of pink hair walk past a window, causing him to freeze and pale.

_

* * *

_

"Wha-What happened

…_N-No! Sakura-chan! Teme! How_… _I don't understand! The ANBU investigators already scoped this entire place out and didn't report this! How did they_… _How could…Why?!"_

"_Naruto! You're one of the ones I want to fight the most!"  
_

* * *

Naruto's left fist clenched so tight into a fist, that his knuckles turned completely white.

_

* * *

_

"Everyone... everyone... has risked their lives to come after you!"

_"Well, how good for them"_

"_My dream is to become the greatest Hokage, that way the whole village will stop disrespecting me and treating me like I'm somebody, somebody important!"_

"_Sakura-chan, you sure do love Sasuke, don't you?"_

"_Hai."_

"_Sakura-chan looks so sad lately."_

* * *

A flash of onyx followed the flash of pink past the window sill in suit, his attention also unaware of the five men watching from the treetops nearby._  
_

* * *

"_Sasuke, I always knew you were alone. In the beginning I was glad because I thought you were like me - I wanted to talk to you! But you... didn't speak. You always had everyone watching you. You could do everything and we were too different. So I decided that you would become my rival. I didn't want to lose because I was called a loser all the time. Even when we became Team 7, I still thought this way. I always tried to lie but... but the truth is... I always wanted to be like you. I aspired to be like you. Because of that... I was glad that you wanted to fight me."_

"_The pain of being lonely... is out of this world, isn't it?"_

"_Sasuke! Sasuke! Sasuke! What does he have that I don't have?!"_

"_I will bring Sasuke back for sure. This is a promise of a lifetime."_

* * *

"Sakura..." Naruto whispered mainly to himself.

Everyone else around him, although they heard, didn't make a sound nor move. Naruto remained lost in his thoughts and emotions as he gritted his teeth._  
_

* * *

"_Are you okay...scaredy-cat?"_

"_I won't let Orochimaru have you! I will stop you even if I have to break your arms and legs!"_

"_It's not the face that makes someone a monster. It's the choices they make with their life!"_

"_I'm going to prove that in this world.. Heroes do exist!"_

"_Real strength is not what you have when fighting for only yourself. When you have something special that you want to protect, only then can you become truly strong!!"_

* * *

"Sakura-chan!" Naruto darted from the trees towards the house, and was sited at the window by a shock-stricken kunoichi holding a crying infant—Akira—as Sasuke came to the source of the loud scream also holding an infant—Akiro.

All three looked at each other silently. Naruto's face was etched with betrayal, hurt, and confusion. After Naruto abruptly "blew their cover", Yamato, Sai, and Kakashi also jumped down from the tree they were hiding in as they walked towards Naruto, Sakura, Sasuke, and the twins, their faces all etched in surprise.

But as if that wasn't surprising enough for any of them, Naruto did something that made all of their eyes widen in surprise.

"Come on, we have a mission to complete," Naruto said as he took the scroll from Kakashi and turned around on his heel, walking away from his teammates. A few feet away, he noticed they weren't following him and he quit walking to speak again.

"I said come on, I want to get back to Konoha. As soon as possible!" His fist clenched in pain as he proceeded walking. Finally, Kakashi, Yamato, and Sai slowly began walking.

"Naruto! Wait!" Sakura yelled as she held Akira's head gently, yet firmly, against her breast for support as she ran towards him. Said male stopped again frozen, his face now covered in tears.

"Naruto!" Sakura yelled, pleadingly as tears threatened to fall from her own eyes. He didn't respond.

"Naruto... Please!" Still no response.

"You have to understand, I was—"

"I thought you were dead... The entire village thought you were dead..." He cut her off before she could finish her explanation and apology.

"Naruto..."

"I carried your fucking lifeless corpse back to Konoha myself, Sakura-chan! We had a funeral and everything!" Naruto gritted his teeth, his anger and pain combining and waging an internal war as he fought himself inwardly to maintain what was left of his composure.

"I cried for you every night because I thought you were dead! And here you were sleeping with teme?!" He finally turned around to notice the pain etched in her face as she continued cradling the sleeping child in her arms.

"...Why?" The question wasn't really directed at Sakura, but she felt it necessary to answer him anyway.

"To live again... I did it so that I could live again because ever since Sasuke defected from Konoha, I have felt nothing but dead inside! You know that, Naruto! Of all people, I thought that you would understand that!"

"I loved you..." Her eyes looked to the ground sadly.

"I know... And I've always loved you too... It's just not in the same way, Naruto..." Naruto let out a long sigh before looking back at Sasuke as he walked towards them, his arms now empty as he put the sleeping child back into it's crib. He approached Sakura and Naruto before picking up Akira and turning to place him with his brother, barely even casting a glance at Naruto.

"I have to go..."

"Naruto..." Sakura whispered.

"I have a mission..."

"Naruto wait..."

"Enjoy your life..."

"Naruto!"

Sakura clutched Naruto's shoulders tightly, trying to stop him from turning away from her again. As soon as her small hands made firm contact with him, she released him upon noticing that his entire body was trembling. She wasn't sure if he was sad, angry, or both.

"Sakura look... I get it, okay? Don't bother explaining it because I get it... Just... Let go of me and quit trying to explain yourself or apologize. Just let me go, please... I won't bother you again, I give you my word. As I've said already, enjoy your life. But both bonds of friendship I've ever had between you and Sasuke, you've completely severed them... I'm sorry Sakura-chan, but things have to be this way... You're a traitor to not only me, but everyone else. Sasuke is no different, if not worse, but this is your path in life and I'm not going to stand in your way anymore. I get it now. Some things in life... They're worth turning your back on the people who have always been there for you... So that you can find your own way..." His gaze looked towards the left sadly as he finished speaking, "I'll always love you though, Sakura-chan..."

With that, he turned away and she finally let him go. Kakashi, Yamato, and Sai followed him, all quietly and inwardly understanding that Naruto was in great emotional pain and that words would be unnecessary. So, they all settled for silence as they walked towards the Mizukage's office.

**

* * *

**

A/N:

Cliffhanger! And Lemony goodness! Muwahaha, I am evil! Yeah, okay, so like, I kinda almost got writers block but then I beat it out of myself brutally with a shoe.

Err, yeah, I wanna put something here for all of my readers. For one thing, I cannot thank you guys enough for reading, reviewing, subscribing, and favoriting my story. I never would have continued this story had it not been from all of the positive feedback you guys all gave me and the motivation to continue writing.

I never expected this story to make it this long either. XD Let me know what you guys think of the chapter. Angsty, ne? Yeah, I tried...

XD I started writing it when I was in a rather... crappy mood. Lol. I finished it in a better mood but had to force myself not to change the second half from the first.

13 pages long, woot! Okay, R&R! Luv ya!

--Nic


	9. Collision!

**Disclaimer: **I'm now officially one angry fan girl T.T I totally hate Kishimoto now (okay, not really). He killed Kakashi, the smexy beast... T.T... and Itachi... and Deidara... But, on the upside, he DID create those sexy beings in the first place, and I didn't, so the anger and ranting stops there I suppose... Grr... The Baka... .

* * *

Naruto, Sai, Kakashi, and Yamato finally arrived outside of the Mizukage's office. The four men stopped their quest for a moment to gaze at the fairly large building before Naruto began walking inside of the large double doors, the rest of them following in suit.

They were greeted by the Mizukage's assistant and were greeted shortly after, which was much quicker than expected.

"Mizukage-sama," Kakashi began to speak in greeting, his tone remaining firm and serious, "Arigato for taking the time out of your busy schedule to meet with us. Allow me to introduce myself, as well as my comrades."

Kakashi smiled politely behind his mask before speaking again.

"My name is Hatake Kakashi, and this is Uzumaki Naruto," he pointed his finger at the blonde who in response just looked up at him showing his attention, before resuming his gaze at the floor, "Sai," his finger then moved to point in Sai's direction, "and Yamato." Finally, Kakashi pointed his finger in the direction of Yamato, whom in turn, bowed curtly at the kage.

"Ohayo gentlemen," the Mizukage began to speak, "to what do I owe the pleasure?"

Kakashi spoke again.

"On behalf of the Hidden Leaf Village, we are here to personally present you this – with a peace treaty as well as request for Mist become allies with Leaf," he finished.

The Mizukage said nothing, but instead glanced a look towards him urging him to continue with whatever else he had to say.

"We ask that you deeply take this offer into careful consideration and acceptance would be most appreciated," Kakashi stated handing the mission scroll to the Mizukage before bowing curtly.

"Konohagakure, eh? And just why should I agree to such terms with a village not only out of my own country's borders, but also short on it's own allies? What would Kirigakure do in the instance of war with an ally that could be so easily defeated?" The Mizukage spoke again, maintaining a respectful and calm demeanor.

"Our allies are limited at the moment, yes. However, we are allied with Sunagakure, and a few other smaller villages throughout the Fire Country, and we are looking to broaden our horizons as far as making more of them is concerned."

The Mizukage simply nodded his head in understanding before pondering a moment. He looked down at the scroll and unraveled it before scanning his eyes over it's contents.

"And this 'agreement'... it ensures Konohagakure's assistance whenever needed?"

Kakashi nodded his head in agreement.

"Hai. Whenever, wherever, why ever. It's as simple as that," Kakashi scratched his head nervously before letting out a slight chuckle. "Leaf's a bit desperate for allies at the moment, cant you tell?"

The Mizukage raised a skeptical brow at the shinobi before letting out a sigh.

"Hai, hai.... Kirigakure isn't really in the position to turn down any offers of eligible allies... so... where do I sign?"

Kakashi pointed to a long blank line on the paper and the Mizukage scribbled his signature on it before giving the scroll back to Kakashi, who neatly rolled it back up and put it in his back pocket.

"Arigato, Mizukage-sama. We will be parting in several days to return to Konohagakure. In the meantime, hopefully, you wont mind the four of us accommodating ourselves in a local in?"

Kakashi spoke again, his tone a bit more questioning than stating.

"Hai. Stay as long as you need to. After all, we're allies now right?"

Kakashi smiled behind his mask and nodded curtly before turning around and walking towards the door, Yamato, Sai, and Naruto following in suit.

* * *

Once they stepped outside of the Mizukage's office, Kakashi spoke to his three teammate's.

"We should go get our rooms before it gets dark."

Naruto, Sai, and Yamato nodded their heads in agreement before walking down the stairs.

As the four began to round a corner with Naruto walking rather quickly in the lead, said male found himself coming to a head-on collision, so roughly, that he fell to the floor clutching his head painfully.

Kakashi, Yamato, and Sai looked to the site before them, their expressions wide-eyed.

"Hey! Watch where the hell you're... going... oh," Naruto looked in front of him to see a woman about his age staring back at him, one of her pale hands also clutching her own forehead painfully.

She was a bit shorter than him, they could tell, but Naruto had his head down a bit and was slouching as he walked at that particular moment. By the looks of it, she had been walking just as furiously fast as he had been when they both collided into one another.

She was mumbling incoherent curses under her breath as she brushed a few strands of her long black hair from her face, to reveal bright blue eyes that could rival Naruto's own. She picked up her square-eye glasses from the floor and placed them back on the bridge of her nose, giving her a sophisticated look.

She blinked a few times, her vision a bit of a blur from the collision, before averting her gaze up towards the source of her now-throbbing headache. Her eyes widened realizing that she had collided with a person.

"Gomenaisai!! My sincerest apologies! I should have been more careful! Ugh! That was entirely my fault!"

Naruto blinked at the fast talking woman. Her voice was soft but apologetic and he chuckled a bit standing to dust himself off before reaching a hand down to help her up. She accepted his hand and he pulled her up firmly. Once she shuffled to her feet, he got a better look at her features.

She wore a white, long-sleeved, button down blouse that although reached down below her hips, clung to her curves rather snugly, and wasn't completely buttoned. She wasn't dressed slutty, though, but rather...feminine, with a tinge of attitude, indicating she was a kunoichi. She wore short black shorts that barely came below her bottom and she had fishnet stockings covering her legs. Her feet were clad in feminine shinobi sandals, and she wore a black Mist hitae-ate loosely around her waist.

Naruto stared at her a moment longer silently and she began to shift her weight from one leg to another nervously. She would have walked away, had it not been for the grip that Naruto's hands held on both of her arms, keeping her firmly in front of him.

"Umm... I'm Uzumaki Naruto... What's your name?" He asked, finally breaking the now-awkward silence.

"Nikko—Just...Nikko..."

She bit her lip noticing him glancing down at her, eying her from head to toe, as if mentally burning her appearance into his memory.

"Hey dickless, perhaps you should let go of her now?"

Naruto released her before spinning around on his heel, ready to mop the floor with Sai's face, before deciding against it and turning back to face Nikko.

"Gomenaisai," he mumbled before looking back towards his teammate's, whom were all looking at him suspiciously. Nikko never moved from her place in front of Naruto.

"Boy, you sure were going fast. Where were you headed off to in such a hurry anyhow?"

"Naruto," Yamato finally spoke to said blonde ninja, his tone firm and laced with a hidden depth to it, implying for Naruto to not be nosy, which Naruto understood fully and replied to him.

"Well, she DID run head first into me! I at least have the right to ask why!"

He finally turned back to face said woman, who cleared her throat urging for his attention to return to her.

"I was going to get some ramen. It's my lunch break... And I haven't eaten in over two days... Look, I'm really sorry about running into you just now... Uhh... Come on," she said as she grabbed his arm pulling him away from the group as if they were invisible.

"Let me make it up to you. You like ramen, right?"

Naruto's eyes twinkled with something that could easily be mistaken as love, had he known the woman longer.

Kakashi's visible eye twitched in disturbance; Yamato rolled his eyes and snickered; and Sai's expression was stoic, as usual.

Naruto simply smiled in agreement with Nikko's offer and allowed her to pull him by the arm through the busy streets of Kirigakure as he noticed a large sign that read "Miniko's" sitting atop a large restaurant.

Not long after sitting down at a booth inside of the restaurant, a waitress with her hair pulled up into a messy bun arrived at their table, her hand holding a notebook and pen.

"Are you ready to order?"

"Hai," Nikko responded before looking up to Naruto, "Naruto, you can go first."

Naruto stared at her blankly for a moment, before his gaze became dumbstruck. He shook his head, returning back to the present, and looked up at the waitress.

"Err... my bad, I'll take one miso pork ramen, please!"

The waitress nodded her head curtly, scribbling down Naruto's order, before looking at Nikko.

"Hai, and you?"

"I'll have," she placed a finger to her chin thoughtfully as she glanced down at the menu, "the lo mein noodles and general tso's chicken, please."

The waitress scribbled Nikko's order down before turning to walk away. Nikko looked up at Naruto, and smiled a bit.

"So Naruto... You're from Konohagakure?"

"Huh? How'd you know that?"

He looked at her confusedly.

Nikko giggled before pointing a pale finger towards his forehead as she tapped on the metal part of his hitae-ate.

"Your headband, silly."

"Oh... Erm, right..."

Naruto trailed off, his cheeks turning a shade of light pink from his embarrassment. Nikko raised her eyebrow questioningly.

"Well, what are you doing all the way out here in Kirigakure?"

"We had a mission... Those guys back there with me? Those were my teammate's. Actually," he scratched the back of his head embarrassedly, "I should have probably done this back when we... err... ran into each other... but," he looked away, "well, I'll introduce you to them later," he trailed off awkwardly.

Asking the first thing that came to his mind, he asked.

"Wanna know some stuff about them in the meantime?"

Nikko smiled and nodded her head in agreement.

"Sure."

"Alright! Well, you know the older looking guy with the mask, and the silver hair, and the forehead protector over his one eye?"

Naruto covered his eye with his hand imitating his description of Kakashi. Nikko giggled at his implication and nodded her head, ushering him to continue.

"Well, that's Kakashi-sensei," he paused as Nikko spoke.

"Sensei? What ranking are you exactly, Naruto?" Nikko asked softly eying him curiously.

"Oh, I'm a jounin... Actually, it's kinda funny that I still call him sensei though but, eh... he was my teacher back when I was a genin and chuunin."

"Ah, I see."

"What rank are you, Nikko-chan?"

Nikko lifted an eyebrow at the suffix he added to her name before shrugging it off and answering him.

"I'm also a jounin."

"Awesome!"

Naruto responded, a bit too enthusiastically, though she simply giggled at his ambitiousness.

"Hai. So anyways, you were saying?"

"Right... Well, the other older guy with the brown hair is Yamato-sensei. He was Kakashi-sensei's replacement for awhile while Kaka-sensei was injured a few years back."

"Oh? What happened?"

"Well... actually it's kind of a long story... But I'd be happy to tell ya if you're interested!"

Nikko grinned and nodded her head attentively. Before Naruto could finish, their orders came, and the two decided to eat in silence. They had both been practically starved so they ate their meals rather quickly.

They stood to leave the restaurant, Nikko pulling out some money from her back pocket to pay for both of their meals before Naruto put his hand up.

"Nah, I've got it."

He handed the waitress at the counter some money from his notable frog money sack, and Nikko thanked him. The two walked down the street a bit and defected themselves from the crowd.

Nikko lead Naruto to a clearing that appeared to be a vacant training ground and the two sat on the ground, resuming their conversation from the restaurant.

"Naruto-kun, you were saying? Back at the restaurant, I mean. If you don't mind, I'm kinda curious about that mission you were going to tell me about. The one with your sensei getting injured?"

"Oh, right! Well, okay, do you know of a guy named Sabaku no Gaara?"

"Sabaku no Gaara? That's Sunagakure's Godaime Kazekage, isn't it? The guy with the one-tailed demon Shukaku sealed inside of him?"

Naruto nodded his head in agreement.

"Yup, that's him. Well, I'm sure you've heard of the Akatsuki, right?"

Nikko nodded her head hesitantly, having only heard few details about the criminal organization despite one of its members hailing from Kirigakure.

"Well, a few years ago, Gaara got kidnapped by these two Akatsuki members... Sasori and Deidara... and the Akatsuki extracted the one-tailed bijou Shukaku from him."

Naruto's gaze went downward sadly.

"Gaara died back then from the extraction, but then one of Suna's elders—Chiyo-baa-sama—did a weird jutsu that used all of her chakra, and some of mine since I helped, and exchanged her life for his."

Nikko's eyebrows went up in surprise.

"How noble of her. The Kazekage must be well liked, I take it."

Naruto laughed a bit and scratched the back of his head nervously before speaking again.

"Err... Well, no... Actually... Gaara's village shunned him throughout most of his life because of him being a Jinchuuriki. He actually became pretty cold hearted as he got older... Hell, he even fought me once when we were Genin... But after I beat him, he and I slowly became pretty good friends."

"Wow, that's amazing how he managed to become the Kazekage if his village resented him so much. Honestly though, that in itself is pretty ridiculous. I don't think people should be shunned for having a demon sealed inside of them. I mean if you think about it, if the demon is sealed away in the first place, it's obviously protecting everyone around that person, right?"

"Yeah," he said only half consciously. Naruto blinked. "Wait, really? You actually think that?"

Nikko nodded before speaking again.

"Hai. People shouldn't be judged by something so trivial. If I were to ever meet a Jinchuuriki, I wouldn't be bothered at all by it, unlike some people, who'd probably just be afraid."

Naruto chuckled grimly.

"Then allow me to properly introduce myself. My name is Uzumaki Naruto, Konohagakure's very own Jinchuuriki and container of the Nine-Tailed demon fox, the Kyuubi."

Nikko's eyes widened in surprise before softening as she smiled at him.

"Well, it's very nice to meet you, Uzumaki Naruto-kun. I'm Nikko," she shook his hand jokingly, "I have no last name, or no demon in me, or anything cool like that but... I'm an orphan and Jounin from Kirigakure, and my talent is ice manipulation."

She grinned at him.

He looked back at her in amazement.

"You really are something else, you know that Nikko-chan?"

She giggled. "If you say so... Anyways, back to Gaara's story... So, how did your sensei get pulled into all of this?"

"Oh, right! Well, Konoha is allied with Suna and our team was sent to Sunagakure on a mission to assist them after Akatsuki attacked them. Kakashi-sensei and I had to fight that Deidara guy. Kaka-sensei used a new sharingan technique on Deidara—the Mangekyou Sharingan—and it wore him out a lot."

Nikko furrowed her eyebrows in confusion.

"Mangekyou...Sharingan?"

"Hai, that's what's under his forehead protector. His eye is like... ultra-sensitive since it was only a transplant from a friend. His sharingan's on 24-7 so he generally keeps it covered unless he's fighting."

"What is the sharingan exactly?"

"It's a dojutsu. Kakashi's was a transplant from his teammate, Obito when he was younger."

"Dojutsu, eh? Well, that's certainly strange... I mean dojutsu users are typically a bit overly-protective of their eyes, you know? What made this Obito person decide to give up his sharingan eye?"

Naruto ran his fingers through his hair before explaining.

"According to what Kakashi-sensei told me, he got it when he was thirteen. Obito was a member of the Uchiha clan and—"

"Wait... Uchiha? As in Madara Uchiha?"

"Madara...Uchiha? Err...Well, yes, I suppose... they were both from the same clan. Anyways, Obito was a 13-year-old Chuunin when Kakashi was made a Jounin. Their team was called Team Minato with Kakashi, Obito, and Rin, plus their sensei, Minato Namikaze. Their sensei was also my father, who later became the Fourth Hokage of Konoha!"

"Wow. That's impressive, Naruto."

He scratched the back of his head.

"Yeah. I never met him though. He died when I was a baby."

"Oh, I'm sorry to hear that. If you don't mind me asking, what happened to him?"

"He sealed the Kyuubi inside of me and sacrificed his life to save the Hidden Leaf Village."

Naruto said, his eyes filling with painful guilt.

"I'm sorry, Naruto-kun. Do you know what he looks like?"

"Hai. Me. He looks exactly like me."

Nikko smiled.

"Well, I'm sure your father would have been proud to see how handsome his son grew up to be."

Naruto blushed a bit before mumbling, "arigato" to her as they both looked up at the sky. The sun had set in the middle of their conversation and now, the sky was painted with millions of tiny stars. Nikko also looked up at the sky for a moment before laying back in the grass.

**

* * *

**

[Inside of the Kotiko Inn]

"I wonder where Naruto-kun is? Do you think he's alright?" Yamato asked Kakashi, whom was laying on his bed reading his infamous Icha Icha Paradise book.

"Hai," Kakashi answered without tearing his gaze from his book, "this should be good for him, ya know? He's been pretty down lately."

"Hai," Sai cut in, "I noticed that myself. Ever since Sakura's fake corpse was found, Naruto hasn't been too alive lately."

Yamato nodded his head in solemn agreement.

**

* * *

**

[The Uchiha Residence]

"Sakura," Sasuke knocked on his bedroom door, which his wife abruptly locked from the inside right after their encounter with Team 7.

"Sakura, open the door." Sasuke asked her calmly.

"No!" She shouted between sobs. Sakura was sitting on the floor with her knees brought up to her chest.

"And why not?" He asked as he leaned his back against the outside of the door as he slid to also sit down on floor.

"Because I don't want to look at you, dammit! Why the hell couldn't you just make them think that I was missing or something? Why crush them like that? Huh? Did it ever occur to you that unlike you, I had people I cared about who I was leaving behind? My friends, my teachers, my life? Didn't you ever think that this would happen? I mean honestly Sasuke, surely you didn't think we would live here forever without someone from Leaf finding out."

Sasuke let out a long sigh and racked his brain of something to say to calm his wife a bit down. Truth be told, Sasuke did know all of those things full and well. He knew but he didn't care. Uchiha's take what they want without caring about the repercussions and that's exactly what he did now.

"I knew all of that... But it never sunk in until the deed had been done and we were living here. Sakura, I couldn't undo it afterwards and if I did, the result would have been the same."

There was a long pause of silence and Sasuke let out a long sigh as he ran his fingers through his raven black hair. Finally, Sakura spoke softly.

"Why did we come here, Sasuke? Why couldn't we just go back to Konohagakure and have the twins?"

"Because Konohagakure ordered the murder of my clan."

Sakura said nothing finally, Sasuke heard a click from the other end indicating that the door was being unlocked and he stood from his place on the ground to be met by a distraught kunoichi, her face stained with tears and her eyes red and puffy.

Sakura wrapped her arms around Sasuke's waist, who in turn did the same.

"Nikko-chan," Naruto spoke softly looking over at her. She averted her gaze from the sky to him and tilted her head, indicating that he had her attention.

"Hai, Naruto-kun?"

"Tell me some things about yourself. I mean I've told you a lot about me, but you've barely told me anything about you."

Nikko scratched her head a bit nervously.

"Erm... Well, what do you wanna know?"

"Anything."

"Oh that helps," she giggled, "well... I've been an orphan since I was born... I was raised in an orphanage for the first eight years of my life before I ran away. I've lived in the streets until I was about sixteen. By then, I'd finally saved enough money from my shinobi missions to afford an apartment."

"Why did you leave?" Naruto asked while turning a bit onto his side with his chin propped against his hand, his elbow supporting his upper torso.

"They tried to deny me the opportunity to become a shinobi."

"Oh wow."

"Hai... Hmm... Let's see... What else... Oh, yeah. I've been in love once and had my heart broken... I like ramen, though I didn't get any today because... well, I dunno why... Mood just kinda changed at the last minute. My favorite color is yellow and I enjoy reading. How's that?"

Naruto chuckled before laying back on his back, his hands folded behind his head.

"Sounds like we have some things in common, Nikko-chan."

"Hai!" She smiled brightly at him.

"How long will you be in Kirigakure for, Naruto-kun?"

"About a week."

"Oh..."

"Yeah. I'm kinda glad to be leaving though... But in a way, I'm kinda not."

"Oh? Why's that?"

"Why's what?"

"Why are you glad to be leaving?"

"Oh, right... I ran into some people I used to know... People I used to care about... Before they turned their backs on me."

"Oh, I see. And why aren't you glad?"

"Because, I'll be leaving you."

Nikko's gaze softened as she smiled at him, her hair shining brightly in the moonlight as she moved closer to Naruto, her back also moving to lie flat on the ground. Naruto put an arm out to support her neck, to which she accepted.

The two accidentally wound up falling asleep underneath of the stars and remained in the same spot all night.

* * *

**A/N: **People keep asking if the story is ending. No, not yet. I just haven't been able to update daily like I have been doing. My apologies.

Anywho, about the story... Yes! This is a mostly-Naruto chapter but hey, Naruto needs love too! I just am not that big of a Hinata x Naruto pairing fan, and so, decided to create my own character.

Oh, by the way, can any of you guess who Nikko is based on? =P

Anywho, this went to 11 pages and I know that none of my chapters thus far have been as long as the first and for that, I am sorry. I just haven't been able to write an entire chapter about that long. If you're wondering about the weird ass disclaimer thingy, err yeah... I just found out that Kakashi died, and thus my little fan girl heart was broken.


	10. Reasoning

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Naruto. Still angry at Kishimoto for killing off the sexy guys.

* * *

The sunrise over the Hidden Mist Village cracked at the early hours of 6 am. Nikko opened her eyes and found herself lying in the grass next to Naruto. She shook him to awake him from his slumber, having realized that they had certainly overslept and slowly, his pale blue eyes cracked open.

"Nikko-chan? What is it?" He asked rubbing the sleep from his weary eyes.

"Naruto, we fell asleep. It's morning," Nikko whispered for no real reason in particular seeing as they were alone. However, the need for silence seemed necessary.

"Kaka-sensei is probably going to wonder where I was all night," he yawned, "Oh well, I'm still sleepy. Night night, Nikko-chan."

Naruto closed his eyes and fell back asleep. Nikko gave in, noticing how peaceful Naruto looked. He seemed so innocent and precious just sleeping there, she didn't have the heart to try to awake him again. However, Nikko was now restless.

Naruto woke again an hour later on his own, to find Nikko sitting beside him with her knees up towards her chest, her chin resting on her hands boredly. She hears Naruto sitting up and turns around to greet him once again.

"Good morning again, Naruto-kun."

Naruto scratched his head sheepishly before yawning and stretching.

"What time is it?"

"A little past noon."

"Noon... Wait, noon?! Shit! C'mon, we have to go to the hotel! Kaka-sensei, Yamato, and Sai are probably wondering where the hell I am!" Naruto grabbed Nikko's hand and practically dragged her to follow him.

"Naruto, slow down. I tried waking you up earlier but—"

"No, no! That's not the problem... I just never told them where I was going last night..." He slowed his pace down to a walk letting go of her wrist to scratch the back of his head nervously.

"Gomen... Erm... Well, we're here... Wanna come up?"

"Sure." She smiled sweetly and followed him into the hotel room. They were greeted by someone sitting on the couch.

"Well, well... don't tell me dickless got laid last night, cause if he did, that definitely would make you." he pointed a pale finger at Nikko, "a lesbian."

Naruto and Nikko twitched in unison before turning around on their heel and glaring at the dark-haired ninja.

"Excuse me? Do you mind repeating that to my face?" Nikko mumbled growing irritated at Sai's insults, particularly, the one aimed at her.

What the hell was this stranger implying about her? That she was some kind of floozy slut who would bed any man she met? And the lesbian retort? Oh hell no.

Sai stood up, his fake smile plastered to his face as he began walking towards Nikko, his expression fake and innocent. Her entire body with rigid as she glared at him. When he approached her, he spoke again.

"I said, did—" Slap! Nikko had stepped to the side and slapped Sai upside the head so hard, that he hit the ground upon impact.

"_**Baka**_... Don't. Say it. EVER. Again. I am **not** a lesbian...and we didn't 'get laid', you idiotic pervert!"

She plastered one of her own fake smiles, one that could rival Sai's own, as the artist nin looked up at her from the ground, rubbing his head in pain.

"Baka... And another thing, Sai, if you insist on insulting other guys' penises, then obviously, you're covering up for something that you yourself are lacking."

And with that she spun on her heel, her long black hair whipping around to the direction she was once standing, and she treaded towards their original destination, the stairs.

Naruto followed Nikko in shock before giving her one of his foxy grins.

"Hey Nikko-chan! That was amazing! Did you see the look on Sai's face?"

He chuckled mischievously.

"Serves him right. He seems like a real ass. And nobody insults my friends like that."

Naruto's grin softened into a genuine smile. This girl was so different from anyone he's ever met before. She was outgoing and spunky, beautiful and caring, and she accepted him right off the bat – nobody had done that before. Judgments were always being passed on Naruto once people had found out about the Kyuubi but she found nothing flawed in it.

The two began walking up the stairs before they were met with a skeptical looking Kakashi and Yamato.

"Naruto," Kakashi spoke in greeting raising an eyebrow at him questioningly, silently giving him a glance that asked the same question that Sai just did.

"No! Dammit! We didn't have sex together, alright? Geez, we just fell asleep!"

Nikko's jaw dropped and Kakashi and Yamato both raised their eyebrows in surprise, mainly at the fact that he reallydidn't have to yell that fact to the entire hotel.

"Ugh, we're going to my room," Yamato went to open his mouth to say something but was cut off by a rather irritated Naruto, "and NO, we're not having sex! Jeez, you guys are unbelievable!" Yamato shut his mouth and watched the two walk up the stairs. He and Kakashi looked at each other and shrugged their shoulders.

"That was awkward... And I suppose that he doesn't want to go get breakfast then." Kakashi said while scratching the back of his head.

"I guess not. Sheesh, what's all that about sex?" Yamato asked.

Kakashi eyed the lobby and almost-instantly spotted the abused artist nin clutching his now throbbing head.

"I have one idea..."

"Oh by the way... Naruto," Kakashi called holding up a room key.

Naruto smacked himself in the forehead and ran back down the stairs, mumbling a quick thanks before snatching the key. He ran back up the stairs and Nikko was casually leaning against the wall of the hotel room, her arms crossed and her eyes closed.

She sensed his presence though. He was staring at her, trying to figure out if she was awake and if so, did she know he was there?

"Enjoying the view?"

She cocked one eyelid open before doing the same with the other. Naruto flashed her one of his infamous foxy grins before he made his 'comeback'.

"Maybe."

He pretended to eye her up from head to toe, while at the same time, actually doing so.

**

* * *

**

[Uchiha Household]

"Sasuke, I have to go stop them, dammit! I don't want it to end like this! I couldn't life with myself if something happened to one of them and we parted ways fighting!" Sasuke held onto his wife who was trying to break free of his grasp.

"Sakura... Let it go."

She gave her arms another rough tug, pulling him against her but not freeing her from his tight grip.

"No! Dammit, Sasuke! They hate me now! I have to fix this!"

Sasuke furrowed his eyebrow. Truth be told, he did miss the dobe and Kakashi but he refused to ever return to Konoha. He didn't trust them after they ordered the execution of his clan.

"Sakura, stop it."

She continued tugging her arms but he held them firmly in place behind her back. She tried to swing a leg up to kick him between the legs, but he (barely) caught her with his own, pinning her legs together.

"Sakura, you're being childish."

Sasuke let out a long, annoyed sigh. Finally able to incapacitate his wife's struggling body from injuring him and/or leaving their home, he released one of her hands. She went to break the rest of herself free, but felt a thud on the back of her neck.

"Dammit... Not again..." Before Sakura could say anything else, she collapsed, and Sasuke finally loosened his grip enough to carry her in his arms to their bedroom.

Things were certainly going to be rough now that Team Seven showed up. He would have to have a word with the Mizukage about their presence in Mist in the morning. But first things first, he had to convince Sakura somehow not to pursue them any farther.

He placed his hand on his chin as he sat on the bed staring down at her unconscious form, his eyebrows furrowed and deep in thought.

He could tell her the real reason he brought her here – about the safety of her and his newly revived clan. Actually, that might not be such a bad idea, he thought to himself. He smirked and laid on the bed beside her, waiting for her to awake, preparing himself to have to hold her down yet again and keep her from trying to leave.

Sasuke had actually dozed off when Sakura had awoken. He was woken up by a swift punch in the jaw by a fuming kunoichi.

"You bastard! How dareyou knock me out again!"

Sasuke clutched his jaw, wiggling the joints around and making a few popping noises as he did so. Finally, it clicked back into place and he looked at her silently. She went to hit him again but he caught her wrist in his hand and gripped it tightly, staring into her eyes.

"Do you regret this?" He asked, his teeth clenched tightly in anger at her attempts to hit him.

"Regret what?"

Sakura raised an eyebrow curiously at Sasuke.

"This life... Me, the twins, just all of it."

"Of course not, but—"

"There would be no us if we had went to Konoha—"

"You don't know that I mean—"

"They would have had me imprisoned on sight."

"So you think! Tsunade-shishou could have—"

"They ordered the execution of my entire clan." His teeth clenched tightly in anger. For once, she couldn't retort that one, so instead, simply settled for the next best thing.

"I miss Konoha, Sasuke..."

Knock, knock, knock.

Sakura and Sasuke's heads both darted in the direction of the door as they both stood to answer it.

Sakura opened the door to Yamato, Kakashi, and Sai. Kakashi had his face buried in his Icha Icha and Yamato was trying to look uninterested.

"Kaka-sensei... Yamato-senpai... Sai... What are you three doing here? Where's Naruto?"

Kakashi looked up from his book finally speaking.

"He's at the hotel with Nikko-san."

"Who?"

Kakashi shrugged his shoulders.

"He just met her. They've been hanging out for the past two days."

"Oh... Okay... Well, that still doesn't explain why you're here."

Kakashi shut his book and put it in his pocket before glancing over Sakura's shoulder at Sasuke, who was on his guard and ready to grab Sakura if need be.

"To talk." Kakashi smiled behind his mask, though no one was truly sure whether or not it was genuine or fake.

"Hai, hai, come in." Sakura stepped to the side and the three men entered the Uchiha home.

"Well... Make yourselves comfortable. Would you guys like anything? Tea?" Kakashi shook his head politely.

"No. We just got back from breakfast."

"Oh okay... So what do you guys wanna talk about?"

A baby is heard crying from another room and Sakura holds up her pointer finger, indicating that she'll be right back. Just moments later, Sakura came out of the bedroom holding a small, black-haired child with bright green eyes—Akira.

"I see you are reviving your clan well, Sasuke."

"Hn. It took some time and effort, but yeah. We had the twins as our first. They're only 4 months old right now."

"Ah," Kakashi Nodded, "I see."

Sasuke said nothing else, but instead stared at his old sensei, noticing that he hadn't aged at all since the last time they'd seen one another.

**

* * *

**

**A/N: **I have quite a few author's notes. I'm sorry this chapter has taken so long to update. I kinda got writers block.

(1) I'm gonna work on Nikko's character development a lot more in this chapter and give you guys some more insight to her past, as well as her fighting skills. I don't know why but people were thinking that she's based off of Haku. Lol. Well, I want to clear this up – Nikko is **not** based on Haku. Lol.

In fact, I never even had Haku in mind when I wrote this fic. I know what you're thinking though with the senbon usage and the ice manipulation abilities, but I added that for the fact that generally almost all Mist shinobi have some sort of water/ice manipulation talents (i.e. Zabuza, Haku, Kisame, etc.) And senbons because, well, lets face it. They're fricken awesome ass ninja weapons – giant needles that can kill you like rawr o.O Yeah I dunno how else to put that one.

(2) Nikko is truly based off of myself (in appearance), and I was kind of going at an angle of what I would be like if I were a ninja in the Naruto world. This is certainly going to be a challenge for me throughout this story, however, because I have to be completely creative with her techniques and just entire personality, while also adding a touch of myself to her demeanor which I have already begun to portray (she's outgoing, accepting, doesn't judge people right off the bat, etc.) Hell I'm just paranoid now, and am afraid of actually putting a lemon in later with Nikko (Lol!) even though technically, she isn't REALLY me... So... I dunno, let me know what you guys think.

(3) I created Nikko to give the story a totally different angle of which I haven't had too much writing experience with, which is creating an entirely new character. I was inspired with Nikko's name from my cousin's name, however, I changed the spelling (the only downside is that my cousin is a boy haha). His name is spelled Nicco. I wanted something that sounded roughly Japanese.... Kinda....

(4) I'm kinda trying to figure out where to take this story now. I'm still surprised I made it 10 chapters actually. That's why I want to write this entirely anew. So if it has taken me a few days to publish, I apologize and will try to make it worth the wait.


	11. Revelations

**Disclaimer: **Don't own Naruto. Do own Nikko. ;)

* * *

Kakashi looked around his surroundings at the Uchiha home with little intrigue. Sakura sat across from Sai, Yamato, and himself on a chair, her body fidgeting slightly. The entire room remained awkwardly silent as everyone seemed to be too lost in thought to speak. That is, all except for Kakashi, who finally, after about ten minutes after his arrival (which had been followed by silence up until that point), spoke.

"So... What made you guys decide to come to Mist?" Although Kakashi seemed to be asking both of his former students, the question was clearly more aimed at Sasuke, who answered him simply.

"The Uchiha has a favorable reputation in Kirigakure. Plus, it's relatively safe to live here with a family."

Kakashi raised an eyebrow at the black haired shinobi curiously.

"And Konohagakure wasn't, as you put it, 'safe' to do the same?"

"Precisely."

Kakashi's eyebrow resumed its evenness, his expression unreadable though truth be told, he was a bit insulted as a Leaf Shinobi to have such an insult placed on the village. He let it slide, however, and decided to ask another question.

"How many kids do you intend to have?"

Sakura spoke up finally, cutting off Sasuke, whom was about to ramble off either a sarcastic comment, or a very large number – both of which, Sakura refused to agree with right on the spot. Instead, she answered.

"Not as many as he thinks," she shot him a defiant smirk and he returned the gesture by giving her a look that said "Oh, really now? We'll see about that..."

Her eyes narrowed having understood the hidden message in her husbands expression. Their glances towards one another didn't go unnoticed by Sai, Yamato, and Kakashi, though they didn't speak on it.

"What exactly happened Sakura? That day on the mission, what happened?"

Yamato finally spoke up, his tone very calm and curious. Sakura let out a long sigh. This is going to be a long explanation, hm? Oh well, she'd have to just tell it and get it over with. Hopefully, she could sugar coat it to make it seem like she had an equal say in the decision of coming to Kiri (despite Sasuke having to first initiate force her to oblige to do so.

"Yamato," Kakashi said, interrupting her, "I have to speak with Sasuke in... private. You can brief me on the details later, right?"

Sakura raised an eyebrow. What the hell? Who does he think he is, marching into her home and treating her the same way as he did back when she was a genin – taking more interest in Sasuke. She briefly narrowed her eyes at him before regaining her stoic expression almost instantly after.

"Geez, _Hatake-san_, you could actually stay here, it's not like Sasuke can tell you something I don't already know and could tell you myself."

Kakashi raised his eyebrow at what she called him, but shrugged it off, flashing her his infamous "I'm-totally-innocent-don't-be-angry-at-me-it's-not-my-fault" expression that he introduced their team when he first became their sensei and would show up late for training.

"No, no. I'm sure that's true Uchiha-sama," his visible eye darkened a bit, and she twitched a bit involuntarily noticing his irritation at her rudeness towards him earlier by using such a formality."

Sasuke, not wanting to seem "whipped" in front of his former sensei, finally cut in on the silent intimidating glances that Sakura and Kakashi were giving one another. Hell, they had passed expressions so much that he could have swore they were having a telepathic conversation with one another. He mentally smacked his forehead and his eye gave a slight and unnoticeable twitch, though his otherwise-casual expression never faltered.

"Sakura," Sasuke spoke firmly causing said woman to break away from her silent glaring competition with her former sensei, "it's fine."

She opened her mouth slightly about to protest but then decided against it and glared at him before rolling her eyes. Kakashi and Sasuke headed towards the door leading to the front porch, and they shut it. Once Sakura heard the click indicating that they were no longer in hearing distance she let out a sigh.

"Well, where do I even start? Perhaps you guys should tell me what you know and I'll fill in the gaps, ne?"

Yamato nodded.

"Hai. As far as we knew, you and Uchiha Sasuke were both killed during an assassination mission of Kabuto and the solo retrieval of Sasuke to Konoha. From what we understood, you died holding onto Sasuke, attempting to use your body as a shield to protect Sasuke against an enemy's attack via weapon. In the process of you trying to protect Uchiha, from the fatal wound, it resulted in the both of you being stabbed through the heart. Your bodies were returned to Konohagakure by your own retrieval squad consisting of whom remained of the Konoha 12, and funeral services were held as well as a burial. Your names were engraved on the K.I.A. stone as well. As far as Konohagakure is concerned, you and Uchiha Sasuke were both murdered by Sound shinobi months ago and were thus wiped clean from the record books from then on out."

Sakura tapped on her chin thoughtfully.

"Hmm... That all sounds correct to me, though, as you can clearly see, there's more to it than that. Well, here's what really happened."

Sakura leaned back on the chair she was sitting in running her pale fingers through her pink tresses of hair. She bit her lip thoughtfully before just deciding to simply tell him everything that happened from start to present, since after all that was what he desired to know and she had nothing really to hide from them.

* * *

Meanwhile, outside, Kakashi and Sasuke walked casually down the long Uchiha walkway, both with their hands in their pockets and their spiked hair unkempt as usual. They didn't say anything for a few moments before Kakashi stopped finally and leaned against a tree, Sasuke also stopping and standing before him.

"Sasuke," Kakashi asked his visible eye darkening from the seriousness underlying in his tone. Said man continued looking back at Kakashi blankly, but said nothing in response. Instead, he merely flickered his eyes a bit indicating that Kakashi had his full attention and so, Kakashi continued speaking.

"I've known you now for – what, how longs it been? Five years? Perhaps even more?"

"Hn."

"Well, during this time I've observed you a lot more than you think I would have. Everyone seen how Sakura used to follow you around back during the Team 7 days and you clearly made it obvious that you considered her to be an annoyance towards yourself, as well as not returning any affectionate loving feelings towards her."

Sasuke raised an eyebrow. "And?"

"And, now the two of you are not only missing Nin, but missing nin whom are presumed to be dead by your home village, and now you're married and have not one, but two children with her? I don't get it."

Sasuke shrugged.

"What's there to get? I mean seriously Kakashi, what are you not getting about this whole situation?"

Kakashi looked down at him threateningly.

"Why her?"

The Copy Nin asked while making full eye contact with his former student. Sasuke thought his answer over carefully. Truth be told, at the time, he just deemed it 'necessary'. Itachi was long since dead and the life of a shinobi is not lengthy nor are you guaranteed tomorrow. Could that have been a logical answer to give his fellow genius? Sasuke highly doubted it.

Giving either a "just because" or "because I felt like it" answer wouldn't be logical, especially coming from him and Kakashi would continue pushing the subject to get the truth. But in all honesty, how does one answer a question like that when they themselves don't have the actual answer. Sasuke never thought about it nor deemed it worth thinking about. She agreed to him, albeit, he had to woo her a bit in the beginning, but he managed to do so just fine; just as always.

Sasuke knew Sakura still loved him by the way she looked at him that day. Her eyes were so lost and at the same time, she was burying something in her very soul. Looking into her eyes he could see the pain she felt by seeing him again. As the old saying goes, the eyes are the windows to the soul. Sakura's jade orbs told Sasuke all that he needed to know back then and he knew it was a simple matter of time before she'd submit to him successfully.

And ultimately she did. Now that he was being forced to think about it, he wondered the same thing Kakashi was thinking—Why? Why would Sakura still love him after all of the times he betrayed not only her, but also Naruto and Konoha? Why would she agree to marry him when as far as he could tell, she could have fought him to the death over it just to get out of it?

He never raped Sakura or forced her into having sex with him. She was always willing in that and he didn't have any desire to force her to do such. In fact, had she resisted back then, truly, he would have waited and continued trying to get her to want it – but that hadn't happened either.

Never had she shown resistance to him and dammit, now he wanted to know why. His face was clearly painting a picture for Kakashi as Sasuke appeared to be debating with himself as Kakashi had seen so often during Sasuke's battles; he was contemplating an answer that would satisfy Kakashi's question properly and drop the subject, but at the same time, making things look as fine as possible.

Kakashi was onto him though. For some reason, everything just seemed to simple and easy. It seems as if Sakura had obviously gave her heart to Sasuke all over again just because he had simply asked her, and that was definitely strange.

Kakashi knew what love was like and he knew that what Sakura had felt back as a Genin was certainly nothing less. It was Sakura's love, in fact, that had lead to her success as a shinobi.

She loved her teammates and wanted to be able to protect them; she loved her village and remained a shinobi as well as a medic to protect the village people at all costs; and finally she loved Sasuke, so much that she trained under the Godaime Hokage, striving desperately just to bring him back to the village alive so that things could perhaps return to how they had been before he left.

That confused Kakashi all in itself, because before Sasuke had left, he was distant. He was a mirror image of Kakashi at Sasuke's age, albeit they had been differently ranked at the time since Kakashi was a jounin the age of 13, but still.

There had been a Sakura in his life who trailed after him for years on end. Her name was Rin, and Kakashi loved her in time. She was a precious person to him, but he hadn't been able to protect her and she was killed in combat not long after his other teammate Obito had died.

He remembered Rin and Sakura were so similar it was scary sometimes. Both were certainly beautiful and misjudged because of their gender, but the thing that truly separated the two was that for one thing, Rin never belittled Obito for his romantic feelings towards her in the way that Sakura always had towards Naruto who did the same.

She also was so gentle, unlike Sakura who had a dark side that had left many a men cowering in fear at her wrath. Having known all of this, Kakashi was completely baffled, to say the very least, as to why she gave in when prior to her mission, she had been desperately trying to get over the Uchiha.

Hell, Kakashi had even been convinced towards the last few weeks she had spent in Konoha that she succeeded in moving on with her life, though then again, love didn't just go away over night, and Kakashi knew that. He knew it because he still loved Rin and to this day regretted losing her the most.

Surprisingly, all of those thoughts and notations had flashed through his mind at rapid speed, all hitting him in under five minutes time, at least. Finally, he drew Sasuke's attention back to the question at hand.

"Well?"

Sasuke was at a total loss for words. He didn't understand it and it bothered him now. Just because Kakashi had mentioned it at all, now, Sasuke was forced to wonder among himself.

He seen her monstrous strength and he knew if she truly wanted to get away from him, she could kill him with it easily. But she only attacked him when aggravated. That time at the post office – self-defense; the more recent punch to the jaw, he deserved. He knew he deserved that one as well, especially after the effort she put into it.

But he noticed something those times as well – she always held back greatly, and it took so much out of her to just do so. She never dealt him a single fatal blow, even though she had been given so many different opportunities and different reasons for each one.

"Do you even know _**why**_, Sasuke?"

Fed up with Kakashi persisting question, Sasuke let out a long sigh.

"No, I don't. It's never crossed my mind to think about it until you mentioned it, _Kakashi._"

Ooh the malice dripping in Sasuke's words. Kakashi was honestly beginning to imagine randomly Raikiri-ing him right there on the spot for his smug attitude and disrespect, though Kakashi truly could care less about whether or not the Uchiha respected him or not.

Kakashi wasn't the kind of guy to be bothered about something as trivial and simple as that. But still... Sasuke had been his student for a short bit of time and it did irk him a bit to be treated so coldly.

However, Sasuke will always be Sasuke and his coldness was towards the world as a whole. He briefly wondered how Sakura could bare being married to such a cold-hearted person. Finally, another question dawned on him and he asked it aloud immediately.

"Do you even love her?"

Sasuke's expression changed to impassive to stiff and rigid. He resembled a deer caught in the headlights of a truck and his gaze was hard.

"...Of course."

Kakashi's hidden eye twitched slightly. Was he lying? Kakashi couldn't quite tell. From Sasuke's body language, it seemed to point in that direction but still... his words seemed so sincere, holding a hint of boyish embarrassment. Had these circumstances been different and his two former students built up their lives in Konohagakure, Kakashi would have supported them fully.

What made Kirigakure any different? Was it because of how the entire village had been fooled into thinking that the two Leaf Shinobi who surely would someday go down in history for their statuses in life prior to their "deaths".

Then he finally seen that it didn't matter. Kakashi saw how irrational he had been being about this entire situation by relating his feeling of betrayal to that of Naruto's; a totally different story all in itself. Naruto had been too emotionally attached to his team. He was living proof that emotions were a barrier to a shinobi's success as a ninja, though at the same time, Naruto's will to protect his precious people was strong and was the very motivator to how successful he had been thus far as a shinobi.

* * *

Meanwhile, inside of the Uchiha house...

* * *

**It was raining when I left for Sound. I remember it so well because it had been so dry for several weeks before, due to a drought...**

**I was assigned this mission in secret and was forbidden from informing Naruto of the location due to the fact that he would have bothered Tsunade-shishou to no end until she agreed to partner him up with me and assist me.**

**I wasn't even sure if I'd even find Kabuto, let alone Sasuke. This entire mission was for the sake of observation and to check out an anonymous tip we received from a nearby allying village. **

**Anyways, I traveled throughout the treetops, doing my best to conceal my chakra and only emitting a tiny fragment to keep my balance as I ran. This mission was dangerous and I was fully aware of it. **

**Getting ambushed by Sound shinobi would undoubtedly result in failure if not also death. ****from tree branch to tree branch, the destination of my solo mission not much farther ahead. **

**Eventually, I realized that I wasn't 100% sure of how long I'd been running. I just knew that it was a long time and was getting late. **

**The village had received a report that Kabuto had been performing healing jutsu's on Sasuke's internal organs, and his eyes. Upon Itachi's death, he had received the Mangekyou Sharingan and a "parting present". The eye had been quickly blinding Sasuke, faster than it had for Itachi, since the transplant jutsu was performed on Itachi's nearly completely blinded eyes.**

* * *

"Has it given him any trouble recently?" Yamato interrupted.

"Hai, several occasions, I had to heal Sasuke's eyes in a very time-consuming and nearly impossible process, barely threading the fibers of his vision back into place. Luckily, the worst occasion had happened when I was pregnant with the twins, whom were already developing their own chakra pools. All of the extra chakra had really came into use, though it left me nearly dead from exhaustion... well, okay, not literally, but I had fainted several times from the drainages and it took more than one try to get the task completely completed."

"Hai, anyways, as you were saying?"

"Right. Where was I? Oh yeah."

* * *

**In other words, Itachi may have gave him a Mangekyou, but it was pretty much useless and sucking all of the life out of Sasuke's vision. Kabuto, in comparison to shishou and myself, is a terrible medic. Granted, he has many hidden medical skills, but they usually wind up hurting the person in the long run rather than healing them. He also had no access to new medical books with new and modern healing techniques. I assumed that Sasuke should have been in worse condition now than he was before Kabuto had begun attempting to heal his eyes.**

**I'm not quite sure whether or not this next bit is accurate, but I have a feeling Kabuto was tricking Sasuke and doing something to his chakra gates during the healing process. The damage I noticed while healing him on several occasions indicated man minor yet still noticeable... "abnormalities" with his internal organs, so to speak.**

* * *

"Damages?" Sai asked, his eyebrows furrowed in confusion as he bit his thumbnail observantly.

"Hai," she responded, "his liver, for example, seemed to be damaged from the exhaustion and over exertion of this physical strength that I'm assuming he had tried using after each healing session. Using anyone's body during a time immediately after a chakra drainage, as I'm sure you're already aware, is extremely dangerous. There is a reason for it too."

"I don't understand..." Sai was seemingly foreign to such advanced medical terms. Sakura let out a sigh before elaborating to him as simple as she could.

"As shinobi, we all rely on chakra generally to do things that normal people have to work twice as hard to achieve, right?" He nodded.

"Okay, so take, for example, me and my shishou's ability to destroy Earthly structures." Sai cringed at the thought, remembering the first taste he had ever gotten of said strength. She rolled her eyes at him and continued.

"Well, that takes a lot of chakra in itself to do, as well as a decent amount of physical muscle mass completely unrelated to chakra at all. We must maintain this physical strength, otherwise, we'd just be putting forth some chakra without using true strength at the same time. As confusing as it was for me as well in the beginning, shishou explained that we can't rely on chakra completely, which we cant. Otherwise, we would be drained of it much more easily. Taijutsu and martial arts are a ninja's key element in survival. We must maintain our physical strength to put forth 10% of our massive strength."

Sai nodded his head hesitantly, slightly in better understanding. She continued her explanation.

"Without the chakra, our bodies are running on 10% physical strength – which is basically borderline collapse. I'm sure you've noticed this before during, let's say, an overly exhausting battle. Am I right?" Sai and Yamato both nodded their heads in response.

"Well, there you go. A shinobi's chakra begins circulating at the brain, and flows throughout the body, it interacts regularly with the human body's organs, or more specifically, the heart, liver, kidneys, and main arteries. The body has several chakra points as well, as you both know, all which have several direct connections throughout the body as it is attached to the to different organs. Once a chakra point is blocked, it is simply immobilized and unusable."

Sai interrupted her again. "You said internal organs. I don't get it though, how does that affect Sasuke's eyesight... or rather, how could Kabuto possibly have caused damage as deep in the body as the liver without Sasuke noticing the foreign activity of the medical chakra flowing through his body?"

"Well, medical ninjutsu generally revolves around handling both internal and external damages. Since little to no medical supplies can be available during a mission, a medical nin must use their chakra solely to heal. Because chakra can be molded into different objects, it also can come hand in hand with being molded into weapons, as well as medical tools."

"Medical tools?" Sai asked.

"Hai. In fact, there was a technique that Kabuto had developed himself, as far as I'm aware, that allowed him to mold his chakra so sharply, that it was as sharp as a scalpel and could sever a limb if he tried, though he never intensified it that much, as far as I am aware. I eventually attempted to reinvent this technique and after about a year of my efforts, I had managed to do so."

"A whole year?"

"Hai. Actually, I have Naruto-kun to thank for teaching me that. I've never actually attempted chakra molding at all before and since he used his regularly for his Rasengan, he was able to give me the basics and we worked from there. Had it not been for his help, I would have undoubtedly never succeeded in such a task."

"I see. So go on now, Sakura. We're really getting off of the task at hand here."

"Hai, Yamato-senpai...err, I mean..."

"Don't worry about it, Sakura," Yamato chuckled a bit and she nodded before proceeding into her explanation for Sai so that she could get back to explaining the events surrounding her entire life now, which she felt was the most important thing to explain.

"If a person's chakra points are intentionally damaged to a certain degree, the results can wind up causing long-term effects on that person's body. That's precisely what I had noticed in Sasuke's body as well. His chakra points were scarred from past procedures that most likely dated back several years, particularly the ones connected to the organs that wouldn't immediately endanger his survival or indicate any sort of suspicion to arise among a non-medically knowledgeable patient while at the same time, would do damages that could almost be unrepairable."

"Ah, I understand much clearer now. Arigato." Sai thanked her to which she nodded.

"Anyways, you were saying, Sakura?"

"Oh, right. Where was I?"

"I do believe you had explained a theory of yours about Sasuke's internal damages caused by Kabuto's healing jutsu."

"Oh, yeah. So anyways..."

* * *

**I have a hunch that Kabuto was absorbing Sasuke's chakra in combination to his own to heal his eyes. What Sasuke was most likely unaware of is that any type of chakra drain on his own body wasn't supposed to happen at all. It also turned his muscles into mush afterwards, which made Sasuke's goal seem more out of reach at the time he spent as Orochimaru's underling. That's why he remained with him so long.**

* * *

"Sasuke and I barely ever talked about what happened during his stay in Sound. Mainly, all of these theories are speculations that I have gathered through examining Sasuke on numerous accounts."

* * *

**The healing sessions probably had been leaving Sasuke weakened by the end of the day, Kabuto, on the other hand, was almost completely rejuvenated having almost never used his own chakra on the Uchiha's eye sight, but rather, used the Uchiha's own chakra to do the deed. If that is the case, it was a genius plan. I have no doubt that Kabuto knew that Sasuke was being destroyed on the inside from such frequent chakra usage. In fact I have a feeling that was his primary goal all along.**

* * *

"Also while observing Sasuke-kun's eyes, I realized that no actual healing jutsu had been performed, but rather, was a mere illusion. I'm assuming that Sasuke had been numbed during the procedure and assumed it was normal."

* * *

**It was noon when I actually left the village to go to my mission. Assuming by the time I got there, the only person I'd have to really focus on as far as putting up a fight would be Kabuto since Sasuke would be likely be weak enough to take back with little to no resistance.**

**The sun began to set and I quickened my pace. Soon enough, I vividly caught a glimpse of the Sound Village's main gates. I also noticed that there were only two guards standing outside of it.**

**I crouched down behind a bush and masked my chakra completely. I was a good distance from the gates. I began to perform a few rapid hand seals that caused her fingertips to glow with five faint chakra signatures. **

**I used a technique that I had picked up from Sabaku no Kankuro during mission in Suna about two years ago. He taught me all about puppet chakra and how a person can tap into another's chakra gates to make them completely submit to my chakra puppet strings. I manipulated one guard to kill his partner and eventually, commit suicide through slitting his own throat.**

* * *

Sai and Yamato grimaced in unison at the thought of this, emitting a smirk from Sakura as she continued.

* * *

**I released my hold on him and stealthily, made my way into the gates. I looked around cautiously, and was surprised to see that there were no other guards in sight. I began to proceed through the shadows of the sunset, treading my way forward to a dark cavern that I distinctively remember had been heavily filled with the smell of blood and decay. It smelled as if a massacre had taken place there or something. I entered the cave located just at the edge of Sound, and there were in fact bodies splayed about. I had been expecting to see dead prisoners, villagers, civilians, children, the worst. But the site before me, completely took me by surprise. Team Hawk... had been wiped out.**

**Kabuto was dead with the group. I noticed one figure not among the small heap of bodies, and noticed he was barely breathing. I realized that Sasuke had killed them all, probably at the same time, and had gotten injured by Kabuto just before he managed to execute him for good. He had a gaping wound on his torso as well as a seal, probably indicating that he had been given a mark from Sasuke that took away his immortality.**

* * *

"Go figure the freaks had a way to reverse their immortality and were careless enough to keep it documented and with them. The fools. Personally, I wouldn't have made such a scripture if I wanted to be immortal."

Yamato and Sai nodded in agreement.

* * *

**Sasuke's chakra was very faint at that point and he was almost unresponsive. His breaths were coming out in short gasps, like he were fighting for air. His chest had a gaping hole that lead from his sternum to his lower abdomen, and it was a wonder he was still alive. He must have been injured not too long ago. I rushed to his side and forced healing chakra to my fingertips before roughly protruding them none-too-gently into the gaping hole located at the his abdomen.**

* * *

Sakura smirked and Yamato rolled his eyes amusingly, not the least bit surprised at her action of intentionally causing him such pain while at the same time, healing him.

**I sent my healing chakra quickly coursing throughout his body. That was actually the first time I had taken notice to his internal organ damages. I surged my chakra to examine his entire body and it was amazing that he was even alive without the fight because all of his internal injuries were failing miserably as they fought desperately to naturally heal themselves.**

**After about twenty minutes and half of my chakra supply later, his internal damage had been healed, the wound sealed, and he was still unconscious as I jostled him over her shoulder. I vanished in a puff of smoke and reappeared again outside of village's gates.**

**I have no doubt in my mind, however, that had things gone differently and Sasuke had been in fact healthy enough to fight me, then I most likely would have been defeated. Soon, I realized that there were three poorly masked chakra signatures surrounding myself and Sasuke.**

**The first shinobi appeared first from the woods. He was tall and his hair was blue. His eyes were like a yellowish-gold color, kind of like Orochimaru's only without the snake-look to them. The second chakra presence that I sensed had walked out from the opposite direction and I guess that by then, they had figured out what had happened. This one had long red hair, kind of like Sasori's... Well, almost. It was a bit shorter, so I guess it was kinda like Gaara's... Anyways...**

**Finally, the third one came out of his hiding place from behind me. He had black hair and black eyes like Sasuke's. They all looked about as old as me but then again, so does Tsunade-shishou, so they could have just as easily been older (or younger) than they looked.**

**Their presences were so dark... It made me nervous, I remember that much as clear as day. And they all kept leering at me. It was really annoying, actually. Before I could really get too indulged in my thoughts of escape, the first shinobi vanished in a flash, only to reappear in front of me and take Sasuke's body from my hands. I couldn't even register what had happened at that point, otherwise, I would have gave more resistance.**

**I came to and then turned to face him so that I could take retrieve Sasuke (yet again) but he had already been placed onto the ground. I had no idea what the hell they were thinking at that point. My first instincts were that they were misjudging me, which would have been to my advantage, but then, my thoughts changed.**

**The prick grabbed me hard by the wrists and I just wanted to kick him in the groin. It hurt and I swear I felt the bone click on impact, though nothing had really bothered me later on. I think it was just a joint click... anyways...**

**He kept walking towards me. Naturally, my first instincts were to get away but couldn't since they had me surrounded. I didn't even notice I had been backing away from him as he walked towards me. I backed up into the second guy, and he held a kunai to my throat. I realized then that I was screwed and figured I was going to die. Hell, I had been so drained from healing Sasuke's wounds that I couldn't even comprehend a simple replacement jutsu. So I just stood there.**

**The third one walked towards me and kept looking at me the same way the other two had. I swear, had we been wild animals, I think they would have ripped my throat out gruesomely at that point just from their gazes alone. **

* * *

Sakura blushed a bit in embarrassment from what happened next and hesitated to continue, biting her lip. Yamato looked up at her and tilted his head slightly to the side.

"And then what?"

"Umm... err... well, okay..."

**I'll admit, at that point I was scared. I was completely vulnerable and couldn't move an inch. They were going to rape me, undoubtedly. But somehow, Sasuke had regained consciousness—when, I have no idea, but he did and for some reason, he killed them all.**

* * *

Not wanting to add the tiny tidbit about Sasuke wiping out the entire Sound Village, she skipped that part of the story.  
**  
**

The red haired fuck started groping my tits... the bastard... and that confirmed my suspicions that they would rape me. I tried desperately to move but couldn't. Then the black haired prick cut my bra off and slicked a big fucking line down my stomach. Can you believe that shit? I mean really. Anyways...

**Slowly, I began fading in and out of consciousness from chakra depletion until finally, I gave up welcomed sleep and also probably death, hoping for that entire nightmare to just be over with. But death never came. I heard three shrill screams of agony filled the air as my barely unconscious body hit roughly off of the ground beneath her. The impact briefly awoke me to see a blurry form in front of her. I was still too exhausted at the time to notice that it was Sasuke-kun, and whenever he lifted picked me up into his arms, my world went black.**

**A few hours later, I woke up. I noticed Sasuke had put me in his shirt and then I remembered everything that had happened. I started flailing my arms and legs everywhere trying to get loose, still not fully comprehending that it was Sasuke who was carrying me... At least, not until he spoke.**

**I asked him where we were and he informed me that at the time, we were near a border, though didn't indicate right away which border it was. ****I asked him what border we were at and he told me that it was the one separating the Water Country from the Fire Country. Then, he told me that we were coming here to Kirigakure. I didn't know why he was bringing me to Mist, of all places, but I didn't care at that point. I was just so tired! I also felt relief, I will admit, because he hadn't ran from me. Though then again... that didn't make the situation better at the time... **

**Anyways, we got to a shipping port about four hours later, the weather change forcing me awake. I looked at the ground and realized that they were on a ship, surrounded by water. I asked him finally why he was taking me there. He told me that he was taking me there because it was small and quiet. Kaka-sensei, Naruto-kun, Sasuke-kun, and I had all came here for our first mission as Genin to escort the bridge builder, Tazuna-sama, whom you've obviously already met.**

* * *

Sakura scowled a bit about the said man, whom had totally destroyed what remained of her and Naruto's friendship, even though technically, it had already been severed the moment she was found "dead".

**He told me that his ancestor Uchiha Madara was a kage here at one point. He also said it was because Mist isn't directly allied in with Konoha, so any ties between the two's residential affairs wouldn't be discussed among the two. He also said that there is privacy here, which there really is. Then, he dropped the bombshell on me and I wanted to kill him on the spot.**

* * *

Sai and Yamato looked at her alarmingly curiously as she let out a huff in defiance, despite it now only being in the past.

* * *

Sakura was fuming at the memory as Sai and Yamato raised an eyebrow at the kunoichi.

"What did you say... or do...?" Sai hesitantly asked.

"What the hell do you think?"

**And then...**

* * *

Meanwhile, on the opposite end of town at the hotel, Naruto and Nikko were sitting on Naruto's bed simply talking and enjoying each other's company.

"So Naruto," Nikko kindly directed his attention to her as she spoke, "tell me about this person you said that you loved... I mean, that is, if you don't mind."

Naruto looked at her thoughtfully. Who? He didn't remember saying... Oh, yeah! He almost forgot!

"Oh, hai. Her name was - err, _**is**_... Sakura. I've thought she and my other former teammate and former best friend, Sasuke, were both dead, but found them here. They got married and had two kids! I couldn't believe it! She hurt me so bad and I was a bit pissed off when I found out. It still hurts so much... I loved Sakura-chan and I... I don't know, I was hoping that someday... She'd stop looking towards that Sasuke-teme and finally notice me and maybe... She'd fall in love with me."

"Oh, I see. Go on," Nikko said smiling gently at him.

"Well, once I had found what appeared to be her 'corpse', I had to grieve over the loss. Eventually, I had to make closure with her death, and at the same time, I gained my much needed closure about my love for her. It was hard to go through and it took so much out of me. That's why I was so damn angry when I seen them for myself! I left. She tried stopping me but I couldn't deal with it. But I tried my best to be a good friend even if... Even if we might never be friends again... And I wished her luck with her life and hoped she would be happy. Hell, I hope both of them are happy, I mean they were my best friends for so long, ya know?"

"Hai. I know exactly how you feel." Nikko said sadly but still maintained her smile as weakly as she could.

"Really? What do you mean?"

"My first love... his name was Wataru. He had been my boyfriend for awhile when we were Genin... everything was so good between us. I had never felt so loved and happy before in my life. I mean I grew up in an orphanage, the people who took care of me obviously didn't give a damn about my existence as long as they could keep me off of the streets by all means necessary." Nikko chuckled grimly at the thought.

"After Wataru and I became chuunin, he cheated on me," Naruto's eyes widened.

"I didn't expect it in a million years, but at the time, I was so in love with him, I forgave him the moment he asked for my forgiveness and he promised me it would never happen again. That was such a big mistake and I should have never forgave him because he did do it again. He did it over and over and over again, and with different girls too!"

"Nikko..." Naruto whispered barely audibly.

"Every time I found out and confronted him, he did the same thing over and over again – he asked for forgiveness and I gave it to him. It's really stupid, huh? I mean you'd think as a ninja I could at least control something as stupid as falling in love let alone getting hurt by love."

"No, I don't think your stupid, I mean... Shinobi are expected to abandon all of their emotions from the beginning but... I never bought into that for a minute because... I think that by being emotionless, you lose a sense of yourself, you know? What kind of human being doesn't know who they are inside? I mean really."

Nikko shrugged and nodded a bit before continuing her story. "Well, out of the blue, Wataru broke up with me and my heart was beyond broken. I had even considered quitting being a shinobi over it. I was so depressed over it that I couldn't leave my room for weeks and when I did, I barely spoke to anyone. It took me so long to finally go back to doing missions and I realized not long after that that I needed to move on. I'd always love him, but I'd never have went back to him. That was certain."

"Wow. You childhood reminds me a lot of the past of one of my good friends."

"Really? Who?"

"Gaara."

Nikko nodded in understanding and surrendered agreement. She had to admit, from what Naruto had told her about the Suna shinobi, their histories of love and betrayal had been similar, as well as the loneliness they both endured.

"So, what ever happened to the bastard?" Naruto asked.

Nikko chuckled a bit at the memory of the last she'd heard of him, simply due to the irony. "He died."

"Whoa! How?!"

"Heh... it's so ironic... the girl he left me for? Yeah, he cheated on her as well, go figure. She wasn't as _**forgiving**_ as I was."

Naruto flashed her a sly understanding grin. "What'd she do to him?"

Nikko's face scrunched up in disgust slightly. "She castrated him and he bled to death... Karma's a bitch, ne?"

Nikko was blunt in her answer and managed to maintain a straight face throughout it all. Naruto's eyes widened grimly as his expression became completely mortified. Nikko looked over Naruto's shoulder and squinted her eyes at he sight on the opposite side, trying to make out what it was. Noticing her expression, Naruto turned around and his eyes widened in confusion.

"What the hell is that?" He asked raising an eyebrow and gripping a kunai, while Nikko had four of her senbons grasped in between her fingers, both ready for anything.

Outside of the window appeared to be a tan mist of some sort. Unlike the general air around Kirigakure, this Mist was so strange because both shinobi could immediately sense chakra flowing from it. It was spinning in large circles resembling a miniature tornado and slowly it vanished from sight and the spiral entered the room, causing both shinobi to leap backwards towards the opposite end of the wall, their weapons raised and their eyes squinted trying to faintly make out the figure.

Suddenly, all of the the spinning stopped and the particles fell to the floor. Looking down at the grains that covered their hotel room, Naruto's eyes watched in shock upon realizing what they were exactly. Sand.

His eyes followed a small trail of sand leading up the leg of the shinobi before them and his eyes widened in surprise before grinning his foxy grin.

"Gaara!"

* * *

**A/N: **Muwahaha! Fear the wrath of my evil cliffhanger of doom! o.O O.o Err... yeah, I'm weird, ya gotta love me. Feh! I'm running on 4 hours of sleep over a period of three days! Woot! Sleep deprivation ftw!

Oh, and btw, Nikko's story has a lot of truth to it btw (it's my own 'love/pain' story). And you guys are going to be surprised during the next chapter, which I'm in the process of writing soon. Holy shit! For once I finally made it longer. It's 16 pages (sweetness -does happy dance-). Actually there was more to it but I decided the place that I started was a good place to cut it off and am going to add the stuff I continued writing in the next chapter! :D Don't forget to review. It makes meh feel luffed. ;) This story is going to take an interesting twist in tribute to some things mentioned by some of my reviewers which suddenly implanted into my brain and concocted the brilliant inspiration of a NikkuxMystery pairing that is NOT Naruto! -gasp!- Cha! Believe it baby! Mwahaha. Okay, I'm far too happy for my own good... I need my iced tea or something... Man I love tea... Anywho... Enjoy!

Btw: Glomp = Tackle Hug

:D

---Nicollette

* * *

* * *

I was pissed the hell off to say the least. I mean he answered me, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. He didn't even bother

**asking**** me to do it, but instead, he stated it like I had no choice! Ohh, I was so pissed at that moment. **

* * *

He informed me... err, "reminded" me... of his intentions to revive his clan without worry of the village ordering it's execution again. I had a hunch that I was directly linked with all of this but just to double check, I asked what he needed me there for anyways. The smug son of a... he told me that he quote "decided that he wanted me to help him revive the Uchiha clan and have his children!"

* * *

Sasuke said that it was because Mist is so small and quiet. He also said that the Uchiha clan originally had roots tied in with Kirigakure dating decades ago at the clan's start.

* * *

* * *

The third guy took his own kunai and latched it under my medic vest and cut the damn thing off of me. He began to perform some foreign hand seals that I couldn't recognize and he roughly grabbed my. Slowly, what remained of my chakra began seeping from my body and dissolved into nothing. It wasn't long before my body betrayed me and slumped to the ground and I was too weak to move my legs.

* * *


	12. Finale

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Naruto. Do own Nikko. Rawr, fear it!

* * *

_"Gaara!"_

* * *

Nikko's mouth gaped open.

Sabaku no Gaara?!

As in, the Hidden Sand Village's Godaime Kazekage?! What the hell was he doing here? And better yet, why the hell did Naruto just glomp him? Surely enough, the sand shinobi was standing before them, his eyes wide as his body was being crushed in a hug.

Naruto hadn't expected him to lose his footing just as much as Gaara hadn't expected Naruto to hug him, let alone _**tackle**_ hug him.

Despite the Shukaku demon having been extracted for several years now, Gaara still found some difficulty in handling his newly found emotions and just trying to be a regular human being.

Naruto stood up apologizing to Gaara who just rubbed his head, which was now aching due to the rough contact it had made with the floor.

Naruto finally took a close glance at Gaara and noticed he was wearing his Kazekage shinobi uniform. Naruto raised an eyebrow at him.

"Gaara, what are you doing here?! Oh man, we were just talking bout you!"

If Gaara had any eyebrows, he would have raised one high at this – that much was indicated by the creases on his forehead.

"Oh, no! Don't worry, it's nothing bad or anything like that! Nikko-chan and I... Oi! Gomenaisai! Where's my manners?! Nikko-chan, this is Gaara – Uhh, Gaara, this is Nikko... She's a Mist shinobi."

Naruto grinned and Gaara also gave him a slight smile. Naruto had still been the same old Naruto. Nikko smiled and the two shook hands formally as he placed his kage hat on Naruto's bed.

"It's nice to meet you, Kazekage-sama."

She bowed respectfully, causing Gaara to raise his hands in a defense-like gesture.

"Please, just call me 'Gaara'. Naruto does... Kazekage-sama is way too formal and annoying..." Gaara mumbled in his deep husky voice.

Nikko nodded.

"Okay then, pleased to meet you, _**Gaara**_**.**"

She smiled sweetly at him, but his expression remained the same.

He had a childlike look to him now that he no longer contained a will to murder. Even before Shukaku was extracted, Naruto managed to soften Gaara's heart by showing him that love doesn't have to be painful as long as you love the right people. Gaara now loved Temari and Kankuro, as well as the rest of Sunagakure.

"Arigato. It's nice to meet you as well, Nikko-san."

Gaara averted his gaze back to Naruto and gave him a glance that silently asked, _"is this your girlfriend or something?"_

Naruto understood Gaara strangely, in a lot more ways than not. He shook his head _'no'_, and Gaara nodded slightly. The entire exchanged seemed like just a comfortable silence between the two shinobi in front of her.

"Gaara, what are you doing here? How'd you get here?!_**When**_ did you get here? And better yet, how'd _**you**_ know that _**I**_ was here?"

Naruto raised a curious eyebrow at his friend, whom in turned crossed his arms casually giving his trademark smirk.

Gaara, whom was holding his neatly folded blue and white Kazekage robes, laid said material on the bed beside his hat and also took off his sand gourd before laying it on the ground. Naruto paid no heed to this, however.

"Have you forgotten that I am the Kazekage? I'm here on account of your current peace treaty mission. I had to make an appearance with the Mizukage in regards to Sunagakure being Konohagakure's allies. I got here this morning, and the Mizukage informed me where you and your team was staying for the night. And um to answer your second question, umm... teleportation jutsu?"

Nikko giggled a bit at Gaara's response. She hadn't expected him to answer ALL of Naruto's babbles. To do that indicated that Gaara truly did listen every time the blond haired shinobi spoke.

"Nikko-chan! You haven't given me a full tour of Kirigakure yet!" Naruto chimed causing said kunoichi to raise a questioning eyebrow at him.

"I was... supposed to? But you've already been here before, Naruto!"

Naruto pouted a bit.

"Hai! But come on _**Nikko-chan**__,_" he purred her name out trying his best to look absolutely adorable and innocent and was surprisingly succeeding. "It would be so much better if _**you**_ gave me a tour."

Nikko rolled her eyes and giggled a bit behind her hand, ushering both men to follow her to the balcony. She jumped off of the third story hotel's balcony located outside of Naruto's room, and she landed swiftly on her feet, the two males following her in suit.

She managed to tour them around the town, pointing out a few shops and restaurants along the way. The by the end of the tour, which was a bit brief since Kirigakure doesn't have too much to show off in the first place, the three went to the training grounds and laid in the grass – something Nikko insisted they all do.

Nikko and Naruto laid on each end and Gaara laid in the middle, a resting arrangement that was completely at random. The three seemed content and hadn't said much while cloud watching. Nikko stared up at the sky and let out a aggravated sigh, causing Naruto to lean up on his elbows to look down at her.

"Nikko-chan, are you okay?"

Gaara looked over at her as well.

"I hate the mist. All there ever is here is fog, rain, snow, or ice. I wanna be somewhere warm for once and not have to worry about freezing my ass off half of the time."

"You could move to another village." Gaara suggested.

"Kirigakure isn't exactly on good terms with too many villages in order for a peaceful transfer to be made."

Nikko furrowed her eyebrows in despair of the much too familiarity of her home village which did not hesitate to live up to its namesake.

"Mist is allied with Leaf and Sand now. You could always come to one of those peacefully." Gaara continued.

"Hmm, I don't know... I've never been to either village before. How would I know if I liked one of them?"

"You could visit one and return if and when you desire. I could get you permission from the Mizukage to go to Sunagakure, that is, if you wanted to." Gaara said matter of factly.

"Hmm, I don't know. All that I do know is that Mist has no hope as far as success goes. Personally, I don't even trust half of the shinobi here since every powerful shinobi has either defected or become a rogue ninja. Even they could see how hopeless this place is."

Nikko sat up and crossed her legs Indian Style, her chin resting on the palm of her hand.

Gaara and Naruto didn't say anything as Nikko appeared to be deep in thought. Finally, she reached a decision.

"Alright. I'll go to Sunagakure with you."

* * *

**[Inside of the Uchiha Residence]**

"So then what happened, Sakura?" Yamato asked staring at the pink haired woman who had left a rather long pause in her story.

"Erm... Right... Anyways..."

* * *

**Well, I yelled at him for one thing. Then he called me annoying and it pissed me the hell off so I slapped the baka. It was priceless! He never expected it or seen it coming!!**

**I told him that I refused to have his children and he told me that I was still coming with him either way. I gave in after that cause quite frankly, I was still too drained from healing him earlier that day and was not in the mood to bicker with him at that point. All I wanted to do was relax.  
**

**Later on, during the ship ride over here, I asked him again why he brought me with him of all people...  
**

* * *

Sakura paused biting her thumb nail.

"And? What'd he say?" Yamato asked noticing her hesitation.

"He said that..."

* * *

**He said that it was because I was there and because he knew me well enough to trust that I'd be beneficial genetically to help him revive his clan. It hurt but it was logic, not love. I knew that the moment he spoke. Hell, I knew that the moment he had to **_think_**about his answer.**

**I stood my ground though, you know? I didn't want to look like the same, stupid, twelve-year-old girl chasing after her crush and begging him to love her when I knew that he wouldn't. I didn't want to look weak again. So, I kept quiet. **

* * *

"And did you still love him at that time?" Yamato asked her suspectingly.

"Of course..."

She let out a sigh of defeat.

* * *

**The ship docked near in Kirigakure that evening at sunset. It was freezing out and snowing. I went to walk to the exit of the ship but was stopped by Sasuke picking me up. **

**It was weird, creepy, and totally threw me off guard. I totally freaked out at first but yet again, he used logic and reminded me that I had no shoes.**

**We got to The Kotiko Inn and got a room. Sasuke, yet again, totally threw me off guard telling the woman we were married! Can you believe that?! I mean hell, we weren't even married at the time! I swear, he just wanted to con me into sharing a room with him, the pervert!**

**I played along though and it worked. Hell, she didn't even suspect we were ninja from how we were dressed, but then again, I don't know. Finally, he put me down and I slammed him against a wall – I was pissed off.**

* * *

"And what did he do?" Sai finally spoke up.

* * *

**The bastard smirked at me and took the keys out of my hand! He freaking walked away, and I had to follow him – what else could I do? **

**When I got in the room, I noticed something about Sasuke that I hadn't before when he was carrying me. His lips were blue and his skin was about as pale as yours, Sai, if not more. The entire left side of his body was twitching and so, being the medic that I am, I started asking him questions about it. I asked him how long his body had been shaking and he told me he hadn't even noticed. **

**He wouldn't admit it but he was trying hard not to stammer as he spoke.**

**I didn't believe he was fine, nor that he hadn't noticed. So, I felt his abdomen and it was cold. Also, his pulse was irregular. Finally, I concluded he had hypothermia. **

* * *

"This story sounds like it's been quite some quest."

Yamato raised his eyebrows and Sakura let out a long sigh.

"Hai. Sasuke can be such a stubborn ass sometimes."

"So then... how did you treat it without any chakra?" Sai asked inquisitively.

Sakura giggled. "You _**couldn't**_ treat _**hypothermia**_ with _**chakra**_ even if you had it. It doesn't quite work that way."

"Then what'd you do?" Yamato asked.

* * *

**I grabbed his hands and drug him into the bathroom. I even locked the door so that he couldn't escape. I needed to treat it or he could die. So, my medic instincts led me to the bathroom. I turned the shower on hot and grabbed his hands again. I damn near threw him into the shower, still fully clothed mind you, and I had to...**

* * *

Sakura paused blushing a bit.

"You had to _**what**__,_" Sai asked raising an eyebrow at her.

* * *

**I had to get in the shower with him too – but not like that you pervert!! I was still dressed!! I just needed to get his blood circulating and could only do so much with water. **

**Body heat was what he needed at that moment since body heat is the only known effective treatment for hypothermia and so, I had to give him mine.**

**So, I wrapped my arms around him and he got stiff – and not like that dammit you perverts!!!**

* * *

Sakura blushed furiously as Yamato and Sai looked at her in confusion. Yamato then caught on and smirked, though Sai didn't catch on so easily.

* * *

**Anyways, I forced him to sit down in the shower so we could be more comfortable... Exchanging body heat could take some time so... I just didn't want to be standing... I... Erm... Sat on his lap and he finally quit being as stiff as a tree. I mean c'mon, I'm not THAT weird to be around, am I? **

* * *

Sai went to open his mouth to retort before deciding against it and keeping quiet. She glared at him before continuing.

* * *

**I wrapped my arms tightly around him again and rubbed his arms and back trying to regain the proper blood circulation. Then he told me that we were still dressed. **

* * *

"Uhh what does that have to do with anything?" Yamato asked confusedly.

"Err... Well..."

* * *

**I thought at first he was being a pervert and scolded him. But then it hit me that we had no extra clothes to wear for the night. And since Sasuke got us a room with only one bed... You can figure out the rest.**

* * *

Yamato could no longer contain his laughter and broke down in hysterical chuckles.

"You mean you were," he paused allowing several loud chuckles to escape his mouth, "and both of you were naked and," again, he let out a long chuckle, "and you had to," finally his laughter was unable to contain anymore and Sakura narrowed her eyes at him.

"Yamato... You. Are. A. Pervert!"

Sakura glared at the laughing man. Sai nodded his head in agreement.

* * *

**Anyways, he assured me he wouldn't rape me in my sleep or anything. I glared at him of course for even bringing it up since actually that wasn't what I was concerned about. **

* * *

"Oh," Yamato finally resumed his calm demeanor, "what were you concerned about exactly?"

Sakura bit down on her bottom lip and looked down at the floor as if it were the most interesting thing in the world.

"My body. Nobody's ever seen me naked before... Except that baka Naruto when he and his old sensei were peeking on me and Tsunade-shishou at the hot springs."

A irritated vein became visible in Sakura's temple as she remembered the day she'd caught him and broke both of their noses, Tsunade towering over her smirking proudly at her handiwork. That last bit caused her to soften her thoughts and smile a bit.

Yamato and Sai were clearly clueless as to why she would be concerned about her body. She was a kunoichi so she didn't have to worry about being fat or anything.

Perhaps that was it? Or could it be that she was concerned about someone seeing embarrassing battle scars on her body that her clothes generally hid? They had no idea, and finally, she answered their question.

"It's a girl thing."

Truth be told, girls can tend to worry about their appearance too much for their own good. It's in the genes though, really, and it's kind of just natural.

* * *

**I turned the water off and grabbed two towels off of a shelf, handing one to him, while wrapping the other around my upper body. I began unbuttoning the shirt and watched him look at me completely confused as to what the hell I was doing. He was going to see my body anyways, right? Might as well get it over with now. **

**He took his pants off and wrapped the towel I gave him around his waist. Then he was staring at me. I swear, you'd think he'd never seen a naked woman before. I called him a pervert, of course, and rolled my eyes at him. **

**He turned walked into the bedroom and I followed him, sitting on the opposite side of the bed from him. For the first time, he'd asked why I was in Otogakure, so I briefed him about my mission. We laid in the bed for awhile and he started trembling again. I forced him to... I wrapped my arms around him again...**

* * *

Yamato managed to barely conceal his laughter, settling for letting out a light chuckle at her shyness, watching as her cheeks turned slightly pink.

* * *

**That was the worst and most awkward night of sleep I ever had, and the morning got matters worse. Our clothing was still wet, so we pretty much walked around in a sheet or towel, or didn't get out of bed at all. Finally, after what had seemed to be hours passing, our clothes completely dried as we walked downstairs to the lobby, where we were greeted by the inns keeper. **

* * *

Sakura was interrupted by the cries of one of the twins, the second following the first in suit. She let out a sigh of relief and stood before dashing towards the nursery. Truth be told, there was a lot of story to tell and she quite frankly did not feel like recapping it all at once. Especially the more "intimate" moments of her marriage which surely was to be involved.

Sakura came out of the nursery with a quiet twin resting on each hip, both of their heads laying against each of her shoulders as their eyes began lidding slightly to back to sleep.

"Sorry about this," she whispered as apologetically as she could despite how much she was cheering in triumph at the twins interrupting her. Sai and Yamato nodded their heads in understanding and she resumed her seat holding both now sleeping babies.

"I don't want to wake them back up so this story will have to wait. Gomenaisai," she whispered and again, the two nodded at her in understanding.

Truth be told, those twins really should let out shrill cries when they both sobbed together. Anyone with half of a brain would want to avoid such a noise, that is of course, unless they were deaf.

* * *

**[Konohagakure]**

Hyuuga Hinata stood sternly as Hyuuga Neji knelt in front of Hinata's father, Hiashi. Hinata's eyes were hard with fury, a foreign site for both clansmen to behold, but nonetheless, understood. An arranged marriage would just not do, and at the same time, Hinata refused to hand the title over to her younger sister, Hanabi, whom she was fully aware would marry Neji in a heartbeat just to show her up.

Hinata was more bold now as opposed to back when she was younger. Proof was right in front of her father as she scolded him, demanding him to explain what right he has to force her into an incestuous marriage that goes against the clans bloodline orders, which limited inter-clan marriages to take place among second cousins, not first.

"Father! How could you? Forcing me to marry N-Neji? I have a boyfriend already, dammit!"

Her father raised his eyebrow.

"That Aburame boy is your teammate, not your boyfriend Hinata."

"No he's not! He and I started dating three months ago! You knew that! Why would you do this?! Is it because of Hanabi?" He said nothing but his face hardened. That silence was all the answer she needed.

"To hell with you... I'm stepping down as the heiress!"

"Lady Hinata..."

"No, Neji! This time he's gone too far! I need to get out of here..."

Hinata ran out of the room crying and furious. Neji stood and bowed slightly to his uncle before running after his cousin. He found her sitting beside a tree not far from the Hyuuga compound, her knees pulled up to her chest to try to suppress her sobs.

"Hinata..."

"What do you want Neji?"

Hinata averted her tearful eyes at the ground opposite of him, avoiding eye contact with her elder cousin. Truth be told, she hated showing tears as the tears were what remained of her weaknesses and insecurities.

Neji looked at his cousin, baffled on what to do. He understood her anger – hell, he thought that Tenten was surely going to assassinate his uncle for the mere suggestion of it – but Hinata was so different.

Tenten destroyed an entire training ground when she found out but she never cried. Hinata told off her father but she did cry. Outside of Tenten and Hinata, Neji had no real hands-on experience of comforting a distraught woman.

What was he to do? Hold her? Scold her? No. Neither option that Neji had summoned in his mind had quite clicked properly enough to suit his thoughts of the outcome. If he held her she may faint. If he scolded her – he would sever the little bouts of trust which he had.

So, the moment logic died out, he took a page out of the book of Naruto – impulse. He reached his pale fingertips towards Hinata's buried chin and lifted her head to look at him, her eyes red and puffy, glazed with tears – old and new.

Neji leaned forward towards her and kissed the side of her cheek. Shocked, Hinata turned her face to towards Neji's lips and he brushed his lips over hers.

Her first thoughts were panic but then she found sensual ease and relaxed, deepening the kiss with him, all thoughts of logic fleeing both of their minds. Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, Neji pulled away, both of their cheeks tinted with a shade of pink.

"Hinata... Don't give up on the clan. It needs you; I need you," Neji lifted his headband to reveal his aqua colored clan seal.

"Hinata-chan... Do you remember a few years back when you swore to me that you would become stronger and someday take head of the clan?" She nodded her head at the memory.

"Do you remember the promise you made to me? About having me assist you and the branding rule be revoked from the branch clan's members? This is the perfect opportunity to do it. I know this is asking for so much but Hinata... I can **try **to make you happy. I **will** try to make you happy, just as long as you don't give up... Never give up, Hinata... You are far too strong for that and I will accept no less than your utmost strength in my presence."

She giggled a bit and his stern gaze softened.

"Arigato Neji-kun. Well, I suppose this isn't like... a sacrifice that would ruin my entire life. I just have to break it to Shino-kun. Hopefully he'll understand."

"If he loves you, he will."

Hinata nodded and stood as the two headed back towards the Hyuuga compound. Upon their arrival they noticed a smirking Hanabi leaning against the gates. Both trying their best not to acknowledge her, she spoke up anyways.

"Hello there Neji-kun. Have you heard? You and I are engaged to be married since this weakling Hinata here stepped down as the clan heiress."

"Actually, you are quite incorrect. Hinata-chan and I were just going to speak to Hiashi now about... a change of heart, so to speak. Now, if you'll excuse us."

Hanabi's jaw dropped as her mouth formed the perfect 'o', unable to retort that and Hinata smiled thankfully at Neji for coming to her defenses. The two walked side by side down the long hallway of the Hyuuga compound headed towards Hiashi's study, where he was at before the two parted. Hiashi looked up from some paperwork and acknowledged the two.

"Yes, what do you want?"

"I've changed my mind and have decided not to step down as the Hyuuga heiress," Hinata said maintaining her posture with her chin held high and strong. Hiashi raised his eyebrow in surprise.

"And you are certain?" Her father asked suspiciously.

"Hai. Neji-kun have discussed this more privately and I have decided to remain as the head of the Hyuuga clan."

"Hai. You are dismissed. Neji," said man made eye contact with his uncle, "stick around." Neji nodded and Hinata walked out of the room.

"Yes, Uncle?"

Neji asked curiously as his uncle ushered him to sit in a nearby chair.

"There's something I've been wanting to discuss with you involving this arrangement."

"Yes, I assumed that much. What is it?"

"How did you manage to change her mind?"

"I talked to her about it, just as she said."

"What exactly did you say?" Hiashi asked raising an eyebrow.

"Enough to convince her that she isn't as worthless as she's been led to believe over the years. I've reminded her of her dreams of becoming the head of the clan, which she had held onto for the past several years."

"Ah, I see. Well Neji, you clearly see something else in your younger cousin that nobody else seems to recognize."

"With all do respect, Uncle, Hinata has more power than anyone else has cared to actually acknowledge. It's not a matter of me seeing it or her having it, because she **does **have it. Nobody notices her potential and thus look at her as an automatic failure."

"Hinata has... Never excelled naturally, so to speak, Neji. You are fully aware of that, right?"

"Hai. I am fully aware that Hinata had to work extremely hard to get as strong as she is now."

"Well, that is exactly my point. Every other clan head for the Hyuuga clan has been prodigal; a natural talent, so to speak. Hinata, on the other hand, has always been the defective one of my two children. Her sister Hanabi, on the other hand... She would certainly make a fine clan head."

"Are you so sure about that? Hanabi is still a young woman whom is not nearly matured enough to lead an entire notable clan, sir. She is not nearly strong enough nor is she prepared to head the clan. Hyuuga would undoubtedly fall if it were to be given to Hanabi. I know this from personally knowing your youngest daughter, sir. She isn't exactly... leader material."

"How isn't she? She's the strongest and most prodigal of the two."

"Yes, but that doesn't make a good clan head. Hinata loves the clan with her entire heart and would sacrifice her own happiness to marry someone she doesn't love, just for the clan. Strength isn't everything, you know."

His uncle chuckled lightly, "your father used to tell me that all the time growing up. In fact, it's what had me marry Hinata's mother in the first place. She was my second cousin but I did indeed love her very much." Neji stiffened at the mention of his father before resuming his stoic demeanor."

"Hinata has the righteousness of taking charge and the decision was in her hands; not mine. In any case, this clan is not being entrusted to Hinata. It's more entrusted to you, the male of the household. You are more stronger than Hinata and Hanabi combined and if it were up to me, I would have made you head of the clan, first choice. But the clan council makes the rules, not I. This arrangement, as in her betrothal to you, was my suggestion and for good reason."

"I understand, Uncle."

"Good. You are dismissed." And with a wave of his hand, Neji walked out of the room.

* * *

**[Mist]**

Once Kakashi and Sasuke's little chat ended outside, the two returned to the house to find Yamato and Sai sitting alone on the sofa and Sakura quietly tip-toeing from the nursery. The pinkette marched right up to her husband and poked him in the chest.

"Sasuke, I have to go talk to Naruto. Don't try stopping me or I will see to it that Akiro and Akira are the only heirs you will be able to produce. Understood?"

Said man gulped a bit and nodded his head as the fuming pink-haired woman marched out of the house. Kakashi and Sasuke looked at each other confused before shrugging. She was still the stubborn old Sakura.

Meanwhile, Gaara, Naruto, and Nikko were still lounging around and cloud gazing at the training grounds when they heard a shriek of a womans voice emitting from way ahead of them. All three squinted their eyes to try to make out the blurred figure charging towards them. Nikko raised an eyebrow and the pink blur stomping towards them; Gaara cocked his head to the side in confusion; and Naruto paled at the site of the pink-haired fuming kunoichi en route to their location.

"Naruto, I have a bone to pick with you! What the hell do—" Sakura's jaw dropped before she could finish her sentence, seeing him kissing the now wide-eyed Nikko full on the lips.

Well THAT shut her up, Gaara mused to himself watching the scene play out. Sakura was beyond stunned at the actions that just happened, to side-tracked to remember the original point of her rant.

Nikko pulled away in shock and the three looked up to see a smiling Sakura – clearly a forced smile, yes, but a smile nonetheless.

"Naruto…"

Said blonde's eyes glazed with pain and heartbreak. She knew that look and that feeling. She also knew why he kissed the woman sitting next to him – as did everyone else present. He was hurt and confused – unsure of what to do with himself and confused about how he wanted to handle his feelings and emotions towards the events involving Sakura.

So he kissed his new friend out of sheer desperation to ease the pain in his heart. That need wasn't fulfilled, however. His heart lay in ruins with Sakura and he would always love her.

"Sakura…"

"Naruto… Be happy, okay? Let it go. Just let me go. Please, for you."

"Alright, Sakura-chan."

Sakura smiled at the suffix. Naruto stood and walked towards her before embracing her in a tight hug. Before Sakura could realize it, her eyes leaked streams of painful repressed tears that she had been fighting for so long now.

"Naruto, I missed you so much...G-Gomenaisai," Sakura whispered through her tears as she clung to Naruto for dear life.

"I know, Sakura-chan. I know... I missed you too. And I forgive you. I understand why you did it though. I didn't at first but I've thought it over and I knew teme would win your heart in the end. Hell, he had it from the beginning, huh?"

"Oh, Naruto..."

He didn't say another word, but instead cut her off from adding whatever she was going to by tightening the embrace and engulfed her with his warmth. At that very moment, forgiveness was eminent and both friends savored in the moment as if it were the last time they would ever hold one another. Though in itself, it very well might be. Who is to know what tomorrow holds in the shinobi world?

* * *

Finally, the day came for all of the friends, both old and new, to depart from one another again to continue onto the new phases of their lives.

Nikko went to Sunagakure with Gaara and became a full-time Suna citizen. She found that she loved the sandy land much more than Mist and never returned again. She even grew extremely close to Gaara in the process.

Naruto and the rest of his team all returned to Konoha and never reported Sakura and Sasuke's whereabouts. Naruto insisted during the trip back that he wanted them to live a peaceful life, for her sake and all three men agreed.

Sakura, Sasuke, Akiro, and Akira stayed in Mist and two years later, Sakura found out that she was pregnant with their third child – this one was going to be a girl.

Like all things, the week came to an end. And tomorrow – Tomorrow promised new beginnings for everyone.

* * *

**A/N: **Yay! It's finally over! Now, don't get me wrong! I Loved writing this story and especially **love **everyone out there who has thus far reviewed and supported and liked this story. Now, I got some good news, if you're interested anyways. I'll be making a sequel using a different pairing featuring Nikko x Gaara! Rawrishness! The other couples featured in this story may make several of their own appearances! Wish me luck and keep your eyes peeled!


	13. Final Author's Note

_**Final Author's Note: **__To those of you who have taken the time to read and enjoy my story, I thank you for all of your comments. I know many of you have been expecting a sequel, but, __I am sorry to say that there will be no sequel. For the last year, I have deeply considered making a sequel, but for one thing, I don't have the attention span (nor desire) to write any further than this, and also, I'm struggling to focus on my current stories. Once again, I am sorry to those of you whom were expecting a sequel and I'm sorry for such a late update in Author's Notes._


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